BANGKOK, December 11, 2013 (HK Golfer News Wire) - Four of the favourites to win the Thailand Golf Championship, which begins at Amata Spring Country Club tomorrow, exchanged their golf clubs for cooking utensils to take part in a culinary lesson at the St. Regis Bangkok. Bubba Watson, Charl Schwartzel and Hunter Mahan were joined by Thailand’s number one Thongchai Jaidee as they immersed themselves in local culture and learned to create two of the country’s most famous dishes.
The four players were shown the secrets behind making good Som Tum, or Green Papaya Salad, and Pad Thai, the stir-fried noodles dish commonly served as a street food and at casual local eateries all over Thailand by Chef Dong, Executive Sous Chef at The St. Regis Bangkok, who guided the players through the procedure with step-by-step instructions.
World number 31 Hunter Mahan, who is a self-confessed cooking fan and pursues this interest often at home, was excited to be offered the opportunity to learn from a top chef:
"I enjoyed today very much. It is a real honour to cooking with a great chef at the St. Regis. I love cooking and I love Thai food so it was a great experience. (This was all new to me because it was) different greens mixing with different flavours but it is all good and I enjoyed doing it."
Following the cooking lesson, Mr Sarath Ratanavadi, Executive Director of the Thailand Golf Championship, was invited, along with Chef Dong and St. Regis Bangkok General Manager Krister Svensson to have a taste of the efforts by the star players and select a winner. In a friendly but competitive contest, 2012 Masters Champion was declared top chef of the day, a win that he was clearly not expecting:
"I am surprised to have won that! I have never cooked in my life, this was the first time. Maybe I am better at cooking than I am at golf, who knows! I am not very good in the kitchen and my wife lets me stay out of there."
Three-time Asian Tour Order of Merit winner Thongchai has eaten many times the two dishes that were on the agenda today and expressed his enjoyment of the class. He also disclosed that he regularly cooks at home and tries to make different Thai dishes:
"I enjoyed it today. Pad Thai is very famous in Thailand, everyone knows Pad Thai but the taste can be very different depending on what you put in it. But it was great to have a cooking lesson here today. I sometimes go home and try to cook, but maybe not so much Pad Thai. I will try and make green curry, or red curry, something like that."
The players will now have one last chance to practice at the famous Amata Spring Country Club in Chonburi through the Thailand Golf Championship Pro-Am competition today, where they will be grouped with keen amateur players to play, and offer advice during, a round at the course.
The third edition of the Thailand Golf Championship, one of Asia’s most prominent and premier professional golf tournaments, will take place from December 12-15 and features a stellar, world-class international line-up that includes three Major Champions and seven of the world’s top 40. In addition to the four players who enjoyed the cooking lesson today, other notable stars in the stellar line-up include, man-of-the-moment, Sweden’s Henrick Stenson who recently made history when he became the first man to win the Race to Dubai and the FedEx Cup, 2013 US Open Champion Justin Rose, former world number two Sergio Garcia, American star Rickie Fowler, Japanese sensation Ryo Ishikawa and local hope Kiradech Aphibarnrat.
With a total prize fund of US$1 million, the prestigious Championship also has an aim to promote Thailand as an international sports destination and regional event hub. In 2013, the tournament will be broadcasted live to 200 countries and 800 million homes worldwide.