PREPARED FOR PINEHURST

Major debutant Tai excited to play all holes despite notably challenging course

- Ervin Ang

Singaporean Hiroshi Tai remembers watching the likes of Mardan Mamat and Lam Chih Bing, some of the best golfers the Republic has produced, when he was younger.

On June 13, the 22-year-old will take another step towards emulating them, when he makes his Major debut at the US Open, one of golf's four Majors.

He will be the first Singaporean to play in a Major since 2012 - when Mardan was disqualified on his third appearance at the British Open. Mardan became the first Singaporean to play in a Major at the 1997 British Open. Lam, who placed 83rd in the 156-strong field in the 2008 British Open, is the only local to have made the cut at a Major.

The expectations are high because until Tai did so on May 27, no Singaporean had won a title as significant as the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Championship, which boasts Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Bryson DeChambeau as past winners.

This had not only qualified Tai for the US Open in North Carolina, but also the 2025 Masters at Augusta National.

Despite carrying the weight of a nation on his shoulders, he has shrugged off talk of any added stress on his Major debut.