Thai Veteran Thammanoon Sriroj Holds off Pressure to Win 2024 Fubon Senior Open by Six Shots

Prayad Marksaeng and Taiwan's Lien Lu Sen Finish Second & Third

Chun-Hsing Chung Edges Out Defending Champion Tze-Ming Chen to Triumph in Super Senior Competition

Coming in the final round of the 2024 Fubon Senior Open, Thailand's veteran Thammanoon Sriroj promised himself not to repeat the same mistake he had made during the first two rounds. Sriroj not only made good on his promise, but also shot a spectacular 3-under 69 to close with a total score of 211 and defeated his compatriot Prayad Marksaeng by six shots. With this wire-to-wire championship title, he walked away with NT$960,000 (US$29,538) in prize money, while pushing his career victory total to 19 wins.

Marksaeng started the round just one shot behind Sriroj, but failed to bring his A game as he stumbled along the way, including back-to-back bogeys at hole 14 and hole 15 due to a missed iron shot and an OB. He closed with a disappointing 74 and finished in the second place with an aggregate of 217.

Lien Lu Sen, who recorded a hole-in-one in the second round, turned in a very stable round today with one birdie and only one bogey. The 50-year-old completed the final round with a respectable 72 and finished third with a score of 219. Lien said he missed quite a lot of fairways with his driver and failed to create too many birdie opportunities. Therefore, he found it acceptable to shoot 72 today. Given the fact that Thai players have dominated this tournament for two straight years, Lien said Thai golfers are very consistent and have played very well in Japan. "Taiwan can take a page from Thailand in terms of their training methods and golf development," observed Lien.

Lien just turned 50 and joined Taiwan's Senior Tour (TSPGA) in August. In his first five starts as a senior player, Lien has won once, come in second once, and finished third on two occasions. Lien said he plans to continue to work on his game and improve his consistency, in hopes of trying out for the Japan Senior Tour next year.

After winning the Japan Senior PGA Championship last year, the 55-year-old Sriroj secured a three-year exemption to play in Japan. He said he had planned to play it safe from the outset today, because Taiwan Golf & Country Club is a tough course and Marksaeng did not have things his way. He also successfully defused a few crises along the way, including chipping in to save par from greenside at hole 7.

Meanwhile, defending champion Thaworn Wiratchant had a tough day on the green with his putter, as his putts lipped out on multiple occasions. He ended up with a 73 and a total score of 221, good for the fourth place. Chien-Soon Lu, playing in the final group with Sriroj and Marksaeng, got overly aggressive and unfortunately took a double-bogey and a triple-bogey on hole 6 and hole 9. Lu closed with a 78, and tied for fifth with Hsu Mong Nan at 223. According to Lu, he knew "Sriroj has this thing in the bag" after he made that chip-in at hole 7.

Sriroj, who plans to fly back to Japan to take part in the next senior tournament, thanked his wife Tanapong for being his caddie over the past three days. In fact, Sriroj has won two big senior tournaments in both Japan and Taiwan with his wife on the bag.

On the super senior side, Chun-Hsing Chung, who has won four times in as many starts on the TSPGA Tour this year, took advantage of three birdies to card a 75, edging defending champion Tze-Ming Chen by one shot. Chung was very appreciative of Fubon Group's unwavering support for this tournament, as well as Tony Hsieh's efforts behind the scenes. It is worth mentioning that Tony Hsieh recorded consecutive "age shot" after shooting an 82 today.

Shi-Chi Kuo, an amateur player currently training at Taiwan Golf & Country Club, shot a 73 today to close with a total of 221, and successfully repeated his amateur champion title.

 For TV coverage highlight, please visit the official Fubon YouTube channel: https://pse.is/6kkeze

 For more information, please visit the official Facebook page of Taiwan Senior Professional Golfers' Association: https://pse.is/6kkg9z

Photo 1:
Fubon Securities President Guo Yong-Yi (fifth from right), Fubon Senior Open co-founder Tony Hsieh (fourth from right), tournament VIPs and three champions pose for a group photo.

Photo 2:
Thailand's Thammanoon Sriroj (center), winner of the 2024 Fubon Senior Open regular senior competition, super senior competition winner Chun-Hsing Chung (right), and amateur competition winner Shi-Chi Kuo pose for a photo with their trophies.

Photo 3:
Thai veteran Thammanoon Sriroj wins the 2024 Fubon Senior Open by a six-shot margin.

Photo 4:
Taiwan's veteran golfer Chun-Hsing Chung edges out defending champion Tze-Ming Chen to win the super senior competition.

Photo 5:
Shi-Chi Kuo, an amateur player training at Taiwan Golf & Country Club, shoots a 73 today to close with a total of 221, and successfully defends his amateur champion title.

Photo 6:
Taiwan's Lien Lu Sen (center) is presented with a Hole-in-one Award.

Photo 7:
On behalf of Fubon Financial Holding, Fubon Securities President Michael Kuo (right) presents a special "Age Shot Award" to 84-year-old golf legend Tony Hsieh.