SINGAPORE: Thailand's Jazz Janewattananond is back in action this week after a much-needed break following a long and gruelling 2021 that left him exhausted.
He will compete in the Singapore International which tees off today at Tanah Merah Country Club.
It is the penultimate event of the Asian Tour's 2020-21 season, and for the 26-year-old Thai, the US$1 million tournament is a chance to evaluate his game ahead of another important year.
The 2020-21 season ends at next week's Singapore Open at Sentosa Golf Club.
Jazz said: "This is my first event of the year. I had a long break and didn't touch the golf clubs for 20 days so I'm pretty much trying to get back on track, get back into the groove.
"It's [The Singapore International] almost like a warm-up event but hopefully I can create some positive results to move forward."
Jazz competed in the two-leg Asian Tour Phuket Series at the end of last year before taking five-weeks off.
The tournaments marked the restart of the circuit after a 20-month gap caused by Covid-19.
"[At the end of 2021] I felt physical ability wise I was not that tired but mentally I was gone," said Jazz.
"I was on the road for a year and a half. With no news of Thailand opening up, I didn't miss home at all but once they said Thailand was going to do the test and go scheme, it finally clicked that I actually wanted to go home, and I was feeling homesick. So once I arrived in Thailand, my mind wasn't on golf, so it was good to kind of get away from it."
World No.232 Jazz is determined to rediscover the form that saw him win the 2019 Asian Tour Order of Merit title, with four victories, and get back into the top-50 in the world.
However, he said the Tampines Course, which was re-opened in 2019 after renovations, is an unexpected and difficult challenge to the start the year.
He said: "I played the pro-am and have to say I found five to six really long holes which I didn't expect, and this golf course is a beast. It's built on a very big property. So, I'm looking forward to playing it."
Other Thais in the tournaments include Phachara Khongwatmai, Sadom Kaewkanjana, and 14-year-old Ratchanon Chantananuwat.
Phachara is second on the Order of Merit list behind Australian Wade Ormsby after winning his maiden Asian Tour title in Phuket last month.
Sadom won five tournaments on his country's domestic tour last year including the Thailand Open.