Current Asian Tour number one John Catlin says the remarkable success he is currently enjoying this season on the Asian Tour is pure validation for him as it was the tour that launched his career.

The American made a name for himself winning four times on the Asian Tour, and twice on the Asian Development Tour (ADT), before choosing to focus on Europe in 2020 – where more success followed with three victories. He struggled with his game in 2023 and decided to return to Asia this year and cruised through the Qualifying School in January.

Even the ever-confident Catlin himself could not have predicted what was to follow: he won the International Series event in Macau, in a play-off, and Saudi Open presented by PIF back-to-back; lost in extra-time at the International Series Morocco; and tied for third in the Malaysian Open – a result that saw him qualify for The Open, where he performed brilliantly tying for 16th, his best finish in a Major.

In the first of a series of Asian Tour documentary-style short videos, that tie in with the circuit’s new global brand campaign #TimeToRise, the American said: “Feels amazing to be back winning on the Asian Tour. It is a place where it all started for me. Had a lot of success in 2017 and 2018. I had not had the chance to come back and try and validate that kind of success.

“To have come back this year and gotten off to the start I have is something really special. Winning in Asia 10 times has been a great experience and served me really well.”

He is the runaway leader on the Asian Tour Order of Merit, which he has not won before despite winning three times in 2018 to finish sixth on the merit list, and The International Series Rankings – which earns the eventually champion full playing privileges on the LIV Golf League for the ensuing season.

“I have grown a lot from when I first came over here,” said the 33-year-old from California, whose victory in Macau was helped by a sensational third-round 59 – the Asian Tour’s first ever sub-60 round.

“The experience of travelling around Asia and playing in different climates, different cultures, different golf courses … it’s made me a more well-rounded golfer for sure.”

Having based himself in Hua Hin, Thailand, when playing in the region, as well as when there are breaks in his schedule, he says: “I would like to come back to Hua Hin a lot more, I do. It was a place that I lived for a long time. Starting out on the ADT, to winning on the ADT, just starting out on the Asian Tour, and winning on the Asian Tour, then going off to Europe, but I have always been happy here – the Tour is very welcoming, it is very friendly, the other guys when I have success I get flooded with support and messages. I love everything about it, I think it’s awesome.”

It’s all a long way from when he made his first appearance on the Asian Tour in January of 2015, shooting a 69 in the first round of a Qualifying School First Stage event in Thailand.

He went on to tie for 12th, then secured the seventh card at Final Stage, and the rest is history.

source: https://asiantour.com