Indian golfer Rashid Khan will be looking to overcome a few metal blocks and bounce back when he tees off at the Asia-Pacific Open Mitsubishi Diamond Cup, starting here on Thursday.
The 24-year-old struggled earlier this year but plans to come back strongly when he makes his second appearance at the Y150 million (approximately USD 1.2 million) event sanctioned by the Asian Tour and Japan Golf Tour.
The field will include a sizeable Indian golfers with the likes of SSP Chawrasia, Arjun Atwal, Rahil Gangjee, Jyoti Randhawa and Digvijay Singh.
Khan, a two-time Asian Tour winner, worked with his mental coach Aparna Jain during the off season to strengthen his game and prepare for the business-end of the Asian Tour season.
"It has been more of a mental thing for me this year. When your mind is free you are more confident with your shots. I think too much sometimes. I need to focus on my current shot and not the next one," Khan said.
Khan missed the cut in his debut appearance at the Otone Country Club, West Course last year but is confident of doing better in this year's showpiece event, which has attracted top names like Ryo Ishikawa, defending champion Hiroyuki Fujita and Thaworn Wiratchant of Thailand.
"I struggled with my game last year but now I know the course better. I'm expecting a lot from myself this time. I've been practising very hard to prepare for the busy second half of the season," he said.
"I'm not low on confidence at the moment. I think I was trying too hard earlier this year. I don't want to do that again. I want to win again but to do that, I need a good start. When I get off to a good start, I always have that self-belief that pushes me forward," said Khan.
Angelo Que of the Philippines, Prom Meesawat of Thailand, Jason Knutzon of the United States, who finished tied second last year, will lead the Asian Tour charge.
