C.T. Pan eager to make up for lost time at RBC Heritage

Chinese Taipei’s C.T. Pan is excited to make his first appearance on the PGA Tour in nearly five months after recuperating from a niggling wrist injury.

C. T. Pan plays a shot on the second hole during the second round of the World Wide Technology Championship at Club de Golf El Camaleon in Playa del Carmen, Mexico on Nov. 4, 2022 [GETTY IMAGES]

Taiwan's C.T. Pan is excited to make his first appearance on the PGA Tour in nearly five months after recuperating from a niggling wrist injury.

The 31-year-old couldn’t have asked for a better tournament than this week’s RBC Heritage to make a return as it was at Harbour Town Golf Links that he secured his maiden PGA Tour victory in 2019 following a memorable one-stroke triumph over Matt Kuchar.

Pan will face a stellar field this week as the RBC Heritage is the eighth designated tournament this season which offers a lucrative prize fund of $20 million. Defending champion Jordan Spieth headlines the tournament which also features newly-crowned Masters champion and World No. 1 Jon Rahm, second-ranked Scottie Scheffler and last year’s runner-up Patrick Cantlay, who also finished T3 in Harbour Town in 2017 and 2019.

“I hope to get back to a good pace of play as soon as possible,” said Pan on Wednesday.

“I played in an event (on the Korn Ferry Tour) two weeks ago and I didn’t feel any pain which is good. Of course I have not played competitive golf for a while, and I may be a little rusty now. But I will adjust accordingly.”

Pan is only one of two golfers from Taiwan to taste victory on the PGA Tour, the other being T.C. Chen who won the 1987 Los Angeles Open, which is now known as the Genesis Invitational. Pan’s breakthrough four years ago proved to be the catalyst for one of his best seasons on Tour as he went on to finish 37th on the FedExCup standings.

The slightly-built Asian star, who is known for his straight-shooting game, then went on to become the first golfer from Taiwan to represent the International Team in the 2019 Presidents Cup, where he partnered Hideki Matsuyama twice in the Fourball sessions and earned two points.

He said his left wrist had been bothering him for the past few years, that it affected his game. With the advice of his team, Pan shut down last November after playing in five tournaments during the Fall season and returned home to Taipei.

“I went home for treatment for my wrist. It has been bothering me for the last two to three years, and it hurts when I played in tournaments. I think it was time to seriously treat it which I underwent the PRP treatment,” said Pan.

As a precaution, he intends to plan his tournament schedule so as not to endure a relapse of his wrist problem. “My plan will be adjusted. Previously, I played three events in a row but now, I will play two in a row at most, and have rest in between events,” said Pan.

“During my 5-month stay back home, I took a lot of time to rest, doing treatment and also accompanying my mother. It was also the first time I spent the Chinese New Year holidays at home with the family in the past 15 years. I’ve never taken such a long time to rest since I was young. It was a time for me to get my body recovered, adjust my mental state and to improve my concentration.”

Other Asian stars competing in this week’s RBC Heritage include the Korean quartet of Tom Kim, also known as Kim Joo-hyung, Kim Si-woo, Im Sung-jae and K.H. Lee, also known as Lee Kyoung-hoon.

BY CHUAH CHOO CHIANG [kjdsports@joongang.co.kr]