Unheralded Daisuke Kataoka of Japan believes his first victory on the Asian Tour will come very soon after an outstanding showing at the Indonesian Masters over the weekend.
The 24-year-old produced his best performance since turning professional in 2007 after securing a third place finish with a total score of 13-under-par 275, two shots behind winner Bernd Wiesberger of Austria and one back of multiple Major winner, Ernie Els of South Africa.
Kataoka became the subject of fanfare when he signed for a six-under par 66 Saturday to lead an Asian Tour event for the first time in the $750,000 Indonesian Masters staged at the Royale Jakarta Golf Club.
"I had a good experience this week. I led for the first time in a tournament and it was fantastic to play with Bernd Wiesberger and Ernie Els. If I can continue to keep up with this consistency, I think my first win will come very soon," said the Japanese.
"I was hoping that all my hard work will pay off. The results did show but unfortunately I didn�'t win. It was a very important week for me. It showed that I can play with the top players,�" added Kataoka, who earned $47,250 which took him to 32nd position on the latest Asian Tour Order of Merit.
The following is the Asian Tour Order of Merit - Top 10:
1. Kiradech Aphibarnrat (THA) $662,375.27
2. Gaganjeet Bhullar (IND) $269,066.43
3. Scott Hend (AUS) $235,848.89
4. Liang Wen-chong (CHN) $185,383.29
5. Thongchai Jaidee (THA) $160,172.53
6. Baek Seuk-hyun (KOR) $149,554.50
7. Wade Ormsby (AUS) $128,597.26
8. Kim Gi-whan (KOR) $108,467.77
9. Shiv Kapur (IND) $94,841.75
10. Anirban Lahiri (IND) $91,541.60
