The three-day event is the final round for Thai juniors, who were through at least three of six qualifying rounds based on an aggregate point-scoring system.

The top six local golfers will win tickets to the Teens On the Green World Championships, being held in Las Vegas, in the US, in November.

"Last year, two of our players won in two classes and the other two finished second. I believe our golfers will be on a par with last year, or even better this time," said Wolfgang Huppenbauer, the president of Daimler/Chrysler Thailand, the event's main sponsor.

The meet, the only Asian series included in the trans-continental programme, also involves 70 players from 13 nations, including players from Canada, France, Malaysia, Taiwan, the US, Singapore and South Africa. The tournament features six categories -boys and girls 12 and under, boys and girls 14 and under, plus boys and girls 18 and under.

Williamson persistent

nThe Travelers Championship had up to eight exemptions to hand out and CEO Jay Fishman said about 60 requests were fielded.

Jay Williamson, a graduate of nearby Trinity College in Hartford, was one of the players who followed up several times with the company, Fishman said. "He clearly demonstrated that he wanted that exemption," Fishman said.

Meanwhile, Connecticut native JJ Henry fell short in his defence of his first title.

Henry made tournament history last year when he became the first Connecticut player to win the tournament in its 55-year history. While he had gallery with him all week, he didn't have the game when he needed it most. He shot a 3-over 73 on Friday and had to scramble the rest of the weekend. He did give the hometown fans something to cheer about, though, on Sunday. He shot a 6-under 65 to finish 6-under for the tournament.

Somporn Suphop

The Nation