Thailand's Thammanoon Srirot has a battle on his hands in his bid for automatic selection into the Asian Team that will defend the Visa Dynasty Cup against a Shigeki Maruyama-led Japan from April 15-17.
Thammanoon holed the winning putt when Asia triumphed by nine points over Japan in the Ryder Cup-style shootout at Mission Hills Golf Club in China two years ago but the Thai star, currently ninth on the Asian team ranking, needs two solid performances to secure an automatic selection into captain Hsieh Min-nan's lineup.
The top-eight players will earn direct entry into the team, with Hsieh, who was inspirational in Asia's success in 2003, having four captain's picks for April's clash at the Mission Hills' World Cup course.
Next week's Carlsberg Malaysian Open and the Myanmar Open, from February 24-27, on the Asian Tour will be the last two counting events.
Thammanoon, last season's winner of the Tianjin TEDA Open in China, has accumulated 227 points and trails eighth-ranked Jyoti Randhawa of India by a mere 18 points.
