Thai golf star Prayad Marksaeng has put the European Team on notice that they will encounter a serious challenge in the third edition of the Royal Trophy to be held on January 9-11, 2009 at the exclusive Amata Spring Country Club in Thailand. Last Sunday the forty two year old golfer added a third Japan Tour title to what was already an unforgettable year by winning the prestigious Dunlop Phoenix tournament in Miyazaki.

Prayad held off challenges from many of the world’s great players to succeed in the tournament, regarded as one of the biggest and most prestigious in Japan, including Ernie Els, Henrik Stenson and Ian Poulter. The Hua Hin golfer shot rounds of 68-70-67-71 to card a score of 276 and finish one stroke ahead of seventeen year old Japanese sensation Ryo Ishikawa. His performance on Sunday earned him the first prize of USD 420,000 – the biggest of his career.

The win in the USD 2,000,000 traditional event has catapulted Prayad into third place in the Japan Tour Order of Merit and positioned him for a strong bid to become the Order of Merit winner. Prayad won the Mitsubishi Diamond Cup and Mizuno Open titles earlier this year and has already earned USD 1.3 million in prize money in Japan in 2008.

Prayad’s success has placed him on the golden list of Dunlop Phoenix champions alongside some of the greatest names in the game including five-time Major winner Seve Ballesteros, Tiger Woods – winner in 2004 and 2005, Tom Watson, Padraig Harrington, Lee Westwood, David Duval, Ian Poulter and Thomas Bjorn.

“Winning the Dunlop Phoenix title is very special. It definitely gives me tremendous confidence going into the Royal Trophy. This has been an amazing year for me and I am very much looking forward to going into the Royal Trophy in good form and with a high level of confidence;” said Prayad.

“The Europeans are always very strong in team golf and have a lot of experience in match-play. They will provide us very tough competition but I feel that our team is also very strong and that we will provide them a serious test;” he added.

“I congratulate Prayad on a very good win at the Dunlop Phoenix. He is playing very well and will prove to be a great asset to our Asian Team at the Royal Trophy. We are looking forward to a great match against the Europeans”; said the legendary Asian Team Captain Joe Ozaki.

In addition to Prayad Marksaeng, the thirty five tournament title winner Ozaki has already selected four other players for the Asian Team including 2007 Asian Tour Order of Merit winner Liang Wen-chong of China, two-time Japan Tour Order of Merit winner Toru Taniguchi and eight-time tournament title winner Hideto Tanihara of Japan as well as US PGA Tour star Charlie Wi of Korea.

“Prayad’s success at the Dunlop Phoenix is further confirmation that the fans attending the third edition of the Royal Trophy will witness golf of great quality and of very high competitive intensity. The players will be competing for the pride and honor of their respective Continents – which makes every single match of great importance to them;” said Lincoln Venancio, Managing Director of Royal Trophy promoters Entertainment Group