With Order of Merit secured, the pressure's off Singh

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Jeev Milkha Singh has already locked up the Order of Merit Award for the Asian Tour and can relax this week in Thailand.

BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) -- Having already secured the Asian Tour Order of Merit title this year, India's Jeev Milka Singh will be free of pressure in the Tour's season-ending event, boosting his chances of success against a trio of hometown favorites.

The $750,000 Volvo Masters of Asia begins Thursday, with entry restricted to the top 65 players on the annual prizemoney list.

While the event is not the richest on the Tour -- Singh's victory over Padraig Harrington and Ernie Els at the Singapore Open was the key to him becoming the first player to top $1 million in Asian Tour prizemoney -- it is designated as the Tour's Premier Event so receives greater weighting toward world golf rankings than a normal Asian Tour event.

That makes it all the more important for two players -- Prayad Marksaeng and Lin Wen-tang -- who will use the event to try to qualify for next year's Masters.

The winner will also be included in the field for the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone Country Club in Ohio next year.

Singh, 36, has won two of the past three Order of Merit titles, but, unlike 2006, he will not have the pressure of needing to perform at Bangkok's Thai Country Club to clinch the crown.

"I will miss the South African Open, which is my sponsor's event, but I want to be in Thailand to play the tournament and pick up the Order of Merit award at the gala dinner on the Sunday night," Singh said.

"I love the way the golf course sets up, and I am keen to play there again.

"It will be fantastic to play the season-ending event on the Asian Tour, especially as the new Asian No. 1. The Tour means so much to me; it was where I started out."

Chief among Singh's challengers will be the Thai trio of Thongchai Jaidee, Prayad and Thaworn Wiratchant.

Thongchai is in peak form, having won successive titles at the Vietnam Masters and Cambodian Open. He has credited the birth of his second son during the Vietnam event for turning around his form after a year wracked by injury and illness. While that lifted his spirits, his switch to a cross-handed putting grip might have had a more direct impact on his improved form.

"I have been playing better in the last few tournaments -- I'm getting stronger and stronger," Thongchai said. "My conditions was not too good earlier in the season, but I'm fine now."

Thongchai is a two-time winner of the event -- in 2003 and 2006.

His compatriot Prayad is the defending champion but has gone without a title on the Asian Tour this year. Instead, he has reserved his best form for the Japan Golf Tour, where he has won three titles in six months. Those victories have lifted him to 49th in the world rankings, and if he can stay inside the top 50, he will make a return trip to the Masters next season. He will likely need to finish in the top 15 in this event to stay inside the top 50.

Thaworn finished inside the top 20 each of the past three years at the Volvo Masters without being able to break through. With bunkers placed at around the 280-meter mark on most holes at the Thai Country Club, and Thaworn lacking the distance off the tee of some other players, he is forced to pull his drives up short.

"It's very hard for me because I am taking long irons into the green and cannot get any stop on the ball," Thaworn said.

Players will tee off in pairs according to their Order of Merit ranking, meaning Singh's opening-round partner will be Taiwan's Lin. Lin is 51st in world rankings -- just .01 points behind Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy -- and is eager for a good finish to propel him inside the top 50 and thus earn the coveted Augusta National invitation.

"I can't imagine what that would be like," Lin said.

The 34-year-old has enjoyed a rapid ascent this year, winning two Tour titles, after a less-than-remarkable career record in nearly a decade on the Tour.

"People ask me what happened. What did I change? There are lots of things like clubs and better mental approach, but this is also golf and everyone who plays the game knows you cannot make sense of it sometimes."