Kuala Lumpur, January 4: Asian Tour number one Juvic Pagunsan has set himself a target of winning more accolades in 2012.
 
Pagunsan, the first Filipino to lift the prestigious Order of Merit crown last season despite not winning a tournament, is ready to push himself to the limit in his bid to add to his lone Asian Tour victory achieved in Indonesia in 2007.
 
He said winning the Order of Merit title has fuelled his desire to emulate the success of former Order of Merit winners Thongchai Jaidee, Jeev Milkha Singh and Thaworn Wiratchant, who have a combined 31 Asian Tour titles.
 
“I think I can win more tournaments if I trained harder and push myself to the limit. Winning the Order of Merit will give me that extra motivation to play well and win more tournaments. Hopefully I can win as many titles as Thongchai, Jeev and Thaworn,” said Pagunsan.

“There was a time in my career that I thought if I practised hard enough, I would be able to reach the peak (Order of Merit) that Thongchai, Thaworn and Jeev reached. And I did it. I sacrificed a lot. I practised hard and it worked for me,” said Pagunan, whose Merit success came courtesy of four top-10s including a play-off loss at the Barclays Singapore Open.
 
Pagunsan knows he must show better killer instincts to translate title runs into victories. He has four runner-up finishes and 18 top-10s since joining the Asian Tour in 2006.
 
“I’m definitely a much better player now compared to 2006 when I first joined the Asian Tour. You need to be playing with the top players to improve and I’ve played with a lot of top guys and many good players to inspire me to be a better golfer. You need to push your limit to be a better player,” he said.
 
By winning the Asian Tour Order of Merit, Pagunsan will make a dream debut in the 2012 British Open and World Golf Championship-Cadillac Championship in the United States.
 
“If there’s no Asian Tour, there’s no Juvic Pagunsan. There are a lot of tournaments and opportunities for us to go further in our careers. Without the Asian Tour there would be no way I could think of playing in the British Open,” said the 33-year-old.
 
“Everybody wants to play in the British Open and this is my chance to play there. I’m definitely looking forward to it.”
 
However, his Order of Merit triumph did not come without sacrifices as his vigorous training came at the expense of being separated from his family during the 2011 campaign.
 
“I practised in my province and my wife and daughter were in Manila. Even when I was in the Philippines, we could not be together because I needed to concentrate so that was definitely the biggest sacrifice I made,” added Pagunsan, who was also voted the 2011 Players’ Player of the Year.