Asian Tour young guns look to impress at Manila Masters

Asian Tour young guns Jazz Janewattananond of Thailand, Sri Lankan Mithun Perera and Malaysia's Nicholas Fung will be shooting for glory at the $1 million Resorts World Manila Masters next week.

The ambitious trio, who are all chasing a maiden Asian Tour victory, are amongst a new generation of young talents breaking through on the region's premier Tour and are tipped to contend at the Manila Southwoods Golf and Country Club from Nov 20 to 23 in the richest golf tournament in the Philippines.

At last year's inaugural edition, Jazz and Fung shared fifth place while Perera enjoyed a tied ninth finish, results which will spur them on when they tee up in the prestigious event again.

Jazz, who turns 19 three days after the Manila Masters, will be hoping to celebrate his birthday a few days earlier with a successful campaign.

"I really like the golf course. It fits my fade shots and the tournament set-up was great. All the players stay at Resorts World which makes it a perfect week. Everything was good last year and I had a great week as I was leading after two rounds. I played well and it was a really fun week for me," said Jazz.

"I remember being the joint halfway leader last year but I didn't hole enough putts during the final day to make it into the play-off. Hopefully, I will play well again."

A combination of experience gained over the past one year and hard work has Jazz purring with excitement as the 2014 season heads towards the finish line. He enjoyed a top-10 at last week's Panasonic Open India which has only added to his growing confidence.

"I worked on my physical strength during the summer months to improve my fitness. I noticed I wasn't shooting good scores during the weekend rounds, which could perhaps be due to my fitness," he said.

The 24-year-old Fung also enjoyed a solid outing at the inaugural Manila Masters. The slightly-built Malaysian, who was a captain's pick in the EurAsia Cup presented by DRB-HICOM earlier this year, is hopeful of reproducing another title charge.

"My game has certainly improved from 12 months ago. It was great to be in contention and the result also helped me to finish runner-up in Indonesia the following week last year. I'm keen to do well again in Manila," said Fung, who fired a second round of eight-under-par 64 to get into contention last season.

The ever smiling Perera will arrive in Manila in good form after challenging for a maiden Asian Tour victory in India where he lost in a play-off last week. The Sri Lankan finished equal ninth at the Resorts World Manila Masters and will be keen to improve on that position next week.

"I was so excited to be in the play-off (last week). Now I believe I can do something on the Asian Tour," said Perera, whose father Nandasena was a well-known golfer in Asia during his prime.