Kanchanaburi: Thailand's Rattanon Wannasrichan credits the enforced break caused by Covid-19 and help from former Asian Tour player-turned-coach Annop Tangkamolprasert for his dramatic turnaround in form this year.
Rattanon is seen as a contender in this week's Royal's Cup, the second event of the season on the Asian Tour, at Grand Prix Golf Club after an impressive start to 2022.
He narrowly lost to South Korea's Kim Joo-Hyung in a dramatic sudden-death play-off at the Singapore International last month.
The 26-year-old, who is back in full flight after two torrid years, feels the problem was more psychological than physical.
"It's not that it wasn't good but I could not hit them," Rattanon said about the time in 2019 when things started to go awry.
He is not the kind of player you would expect to have these issues.
In 2017, he claimed the Thailand Open while collecting three other top-five finishes and finishing 37th on the Asian Tour Order of Merit with over US$131,000 in earnings.
His 2018 results were similar with two top-five finishes in big events and a 36th place on the Merit list.
But the 2019 season would prove to be much more difficult.
"In 2019 I made the cut in only five Asian Tour events. I played many tournaments that year because I was also playing on the Japan Tour, but I lost my confidence and also my mental capacity. I couldn't hit my irons. I couldn't hit the balls the way I wanted," he said.
So, what turned things around?
Though the interruption forced by the pandemic was a testing time for a lot of players, it proved to be a much-needed break for Rattanon.
"During the pandemic I didn't practise much, and I think that was good for me. When I didn't play golf for a while, it made me forget about the bad shots".
At the end of 2021, he started working with his friend Annop -- brother of two-time Asian Tour winner Pavit Tangkamolprasert -- and this collaboration proved promising after only a few weeks.
"I wasn't confident about any shot for a year-and-a-half before going to Singapore. I practised with Annop for a month, and he helped me a lot and improved my swing. He changed my grip and the swing a little bit," said Rattanon.
It was the fourth-place finish in the Trust Golf Mixed event in Thailand at the end of December that gave him the confidence to travel to the Singapore International. Armed with a new belief in his ability, Rattanon performed beautifully in the penultimate event of the 2020-21 season before losing to Kim at the first extra hole.
Importantly, the runner-up finish in Singapore secured his playing rights for the 2022-23 Asian Tour season, and he started the new season with an impressive tied-46th place against a world-class field at the Saudi International this month. "I want to enjoy my game. I am not expecting much because that will put pressure on myself like in the past," said Rattanon.
"I played well in 2017 but a year later practised too hard and expected too much. When it didn't work, I lost my confidence so from now on I will try not to think too much about the results. Just take it easy and concentrate on my game."