Singapore: Thailand's Nitithorn Thippong is ready to defend his tittle at the International Series Singapore which tees off to day.
"I am looking forward to it but right now I am not in really good form so I am just trying to bring my confidence back, but I am always excited," said the Thai.
"It is my second time to try and defend a title, my first one was in India [the 2022 DGC Open] and the second one is here this week so I'll try my best.
"Last year I played really great golf all year and I had a lot of confidence in myself and everything just clicked!"
Nitithorn has won three tournaments on the Asian Tour with the other being the Indonesia Open in August.
Other Thai players in the tournament include Phachara Khongwatmai, Atiruj Winaicharoenchai, Danthai Boonma and Poom Saksansin who took the silver medal in the team event at the ongoing Hangzhou Asian Games.
Hangzhou champion Taichi Kho from Hong Kong is also in the field.
Other big-name players include major winner Graeme McDowell of Northern Ireland, 2023 International Series Vietnam winner Kieran Vincent of Zimbabwe and South Africa's Jaco Ahlers, who won the Taiwan Masters on Sunday.
McDowell has been enjoying life playing on the LIV Golf League the last two years but on occasions has also competed on the International Series -- the 10-tournament set of elevated events on the Asian Tour, which sees its Order of Merit winner earn a place on LIV Golf's multi-million dollar circuit.
"As a LIV player I am happy where I am, I think it is a great product, but 14 events is not enough for me so I need more playing opportunities, and I think the International Series serves a lot of purposes," he said.
McDowell's last title came in the 2020 Saudi International, and he is clearly hungry to get back to winning ways.