Thailand's Prayad ecstatic with Masters berth

Thai star Prayad Marksaeng was over the moon Monday after receiving confirmation that he has earned a coveted place in the US Masters..The Asian Tour standout moved up to 47th place on the world rankings following a heroic final round performance at the inaugural Black Mountain Masters on Sunday where he shot a 64 to finish tied second.."

After I withdrew with injury at last year's Masters, I always wanted to play my way back into the tournament," he said.."There were people who looked down on me after my withdrawal and said I would never be invited back. So I wanted to prove very badly that I could qualify on my own merit. I'm very happy.".

There were anxious moments though for Prayad. He entered the week at 50th place in the world and needed to finish top-three at Black Mountain to have a chance of holding on to his position and make the grade for the Masters..After two rounds, the 43-year-old languished in 38th place, 10 shots off the lead but he produced terrific weekend cards of 67 and 64 to charge up the leaderboard.

BANGKOK, AFP