Thai golfer Kiradech vows to get better

Thai golfer Kiradech Aphibarnrat earned a new army of admirers after his stellar showing at the CIMB Classic here but vowed to keep improving as he cast his eye on global success.

Kiradech remained firmly grounded after finishing tied third at the Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club and earned praises from the likes of World No.3 Phil Mickelson.

The 24-year-old Kiradech played consistently from tee-to-green leading the Greens in Regulation category with 83.3 percent of greens hit and was tied second in fairways hit where he found 76.8 percent fairways.

"I cannot say I'm good enough. I have to improve my game a lot if I want to play on the PGA Tour, play with world class players. If I want to play with them, every part of my game has to be strong," said Kiradech, who virtually has one hand on the Asian Tour's Order of Merit title with $1.1 million in winnings this season.

"I can tell you right now that I'm hitting the ball really well, just my putting and my short game aren't good enough to win the PGA Tour events. But with the way I'm playing, my game is heading in the right way."

Kiradech, who earned $406,000 for his third place, was in contention throughout the weather-hit final round Sunday but a cold putter denied him the chance to win what would have been his career biggest title yet. He will move up to 64th place on the Official World Golf Ranking but conceded there was still much room for improvement in his game.