Pichaikool captures the am green IGPL Morocco Rising Stars 2026
Tanapat Pichaikool showed that he was over with his days of struggle with the game when the Thailand star won the US$160,000 am green IGPL Morocco Rising Stars 2026 on Sunday by two shots.
The winning moment 🏆
Tanapat Pichaikool wins the AM Green IGPL Morocco Rising Stars by three shots 👏 pic.twitter.com/fDatCfZLDm
— AsianDevelopmentTour (@ADT_golf) May 31, 2026
The 26-year-old started the final round leading by two shots after a magnificent eight-under-par 64 round on Saturday and managed to end it with the same margin on top of the leaderboard following a battling two-under 70.
Tanapat left a good-looking birdie putt inches short of the cup on the 18th hole, but the par was good enough as none of his nearest rivals could make a move.
Runchanapong Youprayong (70) started three shots behind Tanapat and finished third at -14, while Bangladesh’s Siddikur Rahman jumped ahead of him with a birdie on the last hole in his 67.
That birdie on the 18th proved crucial because it sealed Rahman’s place in next week’s US$500,000 am green Bharat Classic, an Asian Tour event at the same Mazagan Beach & Golf Resort venue.
American Henry Chung (67) was in solo fourth place at -13, with the Hong Kong duo of Matthew Cheung (69) and Hoho Yue (70).
The last time Tanapat won was on his 25th birthday in November 2024, when he clinched the Toyota Tour Championship. Even though he held the sole lead throughout the final day, he said it wasn’t easy to get over the line.
Tanapat narrowly missed out on a full card on the Asian Tour last year when he finished 69th in the Order of Merit, as he struggled with his swing, but feels he is close to playing his best golf now.
“I was nervous. For the past five hours, it was all up and down. Golf isn’t that easy when you come down to the last couple of holes trying to win a tournament. You know others want to sneak up and shoot five or six under. I knew I just had to stay in the moment,” said Tanapat.
“Lots of changes in the last 18 months. I just kept believing that the choices I made were good choices.
“Swing-wise, I worked a lot on my downswing. I’ve been doing quite a bit of work for the past two months, and I wasn’t getting the result I wanted. And then, all of a sudden this week, all the things are working.
“I switched the driver shaft (to Mitsubishi Tensei Blue 6X on his PING G440 LST) and I think that’s a fantastic decision I made last week. I changed it probably three days before I flew here. It’s new, but it just clicked. I just saw a couple drive which were straight and all of a sudden, it was just robotic.”
Tanapat added that he was very excited about next week’s Asian Tour event.
“Excited, very excited indeed. It’s on the same course, and I feel I know it inside out. I will just try to play the same golf as I did this week, and hopefully, the result is the same again,” he added.
Rahman may have fallen short by a couple of shots, but he still had the smile of a winner after finishing solo second. The 41-year-old Bangladeshi legend, winner of two Asian Tour titles, is in Morocco with his family and will now have to change his air tickets after gaining an entry into next week’s event.
“Honestly, I really enjoyed myself this week. My family is with me, so I really enjoyed my work without any expectation. I thought I would not get into the next two tournaments because I was so down on the waiting list, I had to change my tickets,” said the 2013 Indian Open champion, who lost his Asian Tour card last year after finishing 94th in the Order of Merit.
“I did not expect much and spent the time taking my baby to the swimming pool and the sea. I think it was the experience of playing without much expectation. So, yes, it was really very important to me to play well this week, and I am happy that I get into the next week.”
Runchanapong was eyeing that spot, which eventually went to Rahman, and he would rue the finish as he could not convert a single birdie after making three in his first eight holes and getting to within one shot of Tanapat. He then made a bogey on the 10th hole and finished with eight straight pars.
“I felt like I handled myself well out there. I gave myself a lot of chances, but the putter kind of went cold on the back nine. My distance control also felt a bit off with the wind, but it was a great experience overall to be in the last group and be in contention,” said Runchanapong, who improved to third place in the Order of Merit, one ahead of Tanapat.
“I am just trying to take it one tournament at a time. I have finished 12th on the ADT Order of Merit two times (2023 and 2024). That definitely stings a little bit and I’m just trying to improve that.
“I’m just gonna stick around another week, and hopefully, I can sneak in somehow. Let’s see if there are any withdrawals next week so that I get to play because I love this golf course.”
Mazagan Beach & Golf Resort, built on the Atlantic coast of Morocco, will also host next week’s am green IGPL Bharath Classic, a US$500,000 tournament on the Asian Tour. That will be followed by the US$2 million International Series Morocco presented by Visit Morocco. The next ADT event is the US$100,000 DigiPlus Philippine ADT Open from June 17th to 20th.
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