Kuala lumpur: Jazz Janewattananond is looking forward to living up to his billing as one of the highest ranked players in the Maybank Championship, which starts tomorrow.
Ranked 78th in the world, the young Thai has enjoyed a spectacular start to the season, especially with his third Asian Tour victory in Singapore at the beginning of the year.
Having taken two weeks off to recharge, the 23-year-old is mentally fresh and ready for the challenge.
"I'm feeling really good. I had a couple of good finishes coming into this week," Jazz said.
"I had a nine-hole practice yesterday [Monday] and I have to say the course has improved a lot. The greens are amazing. It's going to be great fun playing this year.
"Since I was younger and started golf I tried to crack the top 1,000, top 500 and top 100. I didn't think it would be this soon that I would crack the top 100, but now I can have the next goal which is crack the top 50.
"Everyone knows that this is one of the top events in Asia and everyone has to try to play well here. I took a week off last week to prepare for this week, try to get my mind fresh."
India's Shubhankar Sharma returns to the scene of his famous victory on the Asian Tour fuelled with the belief that he can repeat his winning act.
The Indian closed with a stunning 10-under-par 62 to claim a two-shot victory at the Saujana Golf and Country Club last year and became the first Asian and second Asian Tour member after inaugural Australian winner (2016) Marcus Fraser to win the tournament.
"I definitely feel like I've become a better player from last year. Obviously I have more experience. I've played some of the biggest events in the world. I played all of the majors last year," said the 22-year-old.
"I'm much more relaxed now, but you don't want to get too relaxed when you are playing. These are some of the best players in the world and you have to be 100 percent.
"The start of the year hasn't been great. There have been a few things which have not clicked for me. But I've very good memories from this place and hopefully it can kick-start things, just like what it did for me last year."