After the euphoria of that maiden Asian Tour win in Myanmar, Pratt reflects on his amazing comeback victory.
By Kieran Pratt
To be honest, I was nowhere near winning the tournament until coming down the last few hours.
I just wanted to get into top-five and get off to a great start to the season. Winning was pretty unexpected but it was a perfect way to start. It was a surprise to win.
It was a funny scenario. I was just standing on the 18th tee and was pretty chilled there. I was still at the 15th position and I thought I wasn’t going to win or get into the playoff or anything. I was pretty relaxed coming in and managed to make hay when the sun shines and I guess that was what got me into the play-off.
I felt like I was a long way from the lead but walking up the 14, 15 and 16 holes, I kind of felt like the leaders were going nowhere. I told myself if I could get a couple of birdies on the way back, I could force a play-off and then I eagled the 18th hole.
I had to wait for Kiradech to par the 18th hole in the clubhouse and that was quite a nervous wait. It was pretty cool and unexpected to sneak into the play-off.
When you’re in a three-way playoff, you would think that if you play well, you will have a fair chance of winning the title. I think I played really well and that was enough.
When I got that far, all you think about is winning. It’s one of those things you work on as a player. You think about winning, rather than losing. You don’t think about how you will be stuffing up shots. Instead, you think about how you will make a good one.
I’m a very competitive person and I draw inspirations from other guys who have won, especially the upcoming younger players.
They give me inspiration to want to do the same as them and believe I can do the same. If they can win, you can win too.
I’ve played with Tiger for one round at the JBWere Masters in Australia in 2010 and it sure felt good to have outplayed him in the third round.
I think that type of experiences all add up to where I am now. So I think he probably helped to shape my game by giving me that self-confidence.