Chon Buri: Thailand's Arnond Vongvanij is hoping to win his second King's Cup title this week.
The 27-year-old lifted the coveted trophy, graciously donated by His Majesty the King, after his maiden Asian Tour triumph in 2012.
Tha victory was especially sweet for Arnond as he fended off the challenges from the region's heavyweights including compatriot Thaworn Wiratchant to claim his breakthrough during his rookie season on the Asian Tour.
"I'm very excited about this week. I've been working a lot on my swing change and it's finally coming along really nicely," he said.
"So this is the perfect opportunity for me to test it out and see where my hard work get me."
Major winner Trevor Immelman of South Africa believes he can still conjure a masterful performance when the King's Cup gets underway at the Phoenix Gold Golf and Country Club tomorrow.
Immelman, who is making his return to Thailand for the first time since 2004, is also relishing the challenge of coming up against some of the best players from the Asian Tour that includes defending champion Thaworn.
"We've got a nice field assembled here. It's great the Asian Tour and European Tour are getting together, in a partnership for an event like this," he said.
"Life has changed tremendously since 2004 when I first started coming over here. It has been a tough run but I feel like I'm fit and ready to go."
Immelman is hoping to rediscover the heights of his career when he reached his highest ever ranking of 12th in the world rankings in 2007 and won the Masters in 2008.
The South African has been dogged by injuries and health scares throughout his career.
A left-wrist injury curtailed the 36-year-old's form, leaving him still in search for his first professional since 2013 where he won on the Web.com Tour.
"Obviously I haven't been playing to the standard that I would like. Not through the lack of effort as I've been working very hard. I would like to improve and give myself chances to win tournaments," he said.
"So hopefully this can be the week I can put things together and put together some good scores."
Sweden's Johan Edfors is also seeking to make his return to the winner's circle after staying injury-free since the start of the year.
The Swede's last victory came in 2014 on the European Challenge Tour but is confident of posting a strong result with his current form.
"I haven't play much tournaments this year but the game is starting to come around so I'm hoping for a fresh start this week," he said.
"I've been injury-free since the start of the year and I've been able to practice more. The competition will be tough but I know if I play my best, I'll be up there."
For the first time, the King's Cup is sanctioned by the Asian Tour and European Tour.