The monk who could be king

Jazz Janewattananond has never won an Asian Tour event before. In fact the 21-year-old Thai golfer has never even won an Asian Development Tour event, a second-tier tour in Asia, before. His best finish in a professional career of five years was a tied-third in the 2015 Queen's Cup in his home country.

So Jazz was not expecting much coming into the Bashundhara Bangladesh Open. But today he will be teeing off the final round as the overwhelming favourite to claim the winner's cheque of 54,000 dollars, thanks to three consistent rounds and a yawning lead of four strokes over his nearest competitor. And he has taken himself to that position competing against a field which includes six-time Asian Tour winner Jeev Milkha Singh, a five-time tour winner and former champion of this event, Mardan Mamat, and of course home favourite Siddikur Rahman.

Jazz feels his newfound, relaxed approach to the game has made things easier for him, and he owes that to a fortnight spent as a monk at the end of last year.

"After playing my last tournament of 2016, I went to become a monk for two weeks," the serene-looking lanky golfer says. "I prayed and chanted every day in the temple. I felt really peaceful, even till now. I seem to take things a lot easier now."

Nicknamed Jazz by his music-loving father, the young golfer says that those two weeks helped him develop a different view of life, be a calmer person and focus on his goal without being perturbed by externalities.

"Golf used to be everything for me but now I'm just happy that I get to play in tournaments. It's still important for me but I am happier now when I just focus on enjoying the game rather than the results," Jazz says.

He says his religious belief, together with his affection for his parents and devotion to the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej who passed away last October, encouraged him to spend time as a monk.

"I did it for my parents and my late King. We loved our King. My parents told me to apply what I have learnt as a monk in the tournament this week. That is, to stay peaceful and not worry too much about results. I don't know what will happen tomorrow [Saturday], but one thing I am sure is I will be really happy out there," Jazz says.

Indeed, if Jazz can muster the calmness and focus he developed as a monk to stave off the challenge of home favourite Siddikur Rahman and India's Shubhankar Sharma, he will surely be the new king of Bashundhara Bangladesh Open.