Injury-Free Pan Eager to Make Up for Lost Time

Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, United States: Chinese Taipei’s CT 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, a one-stroke triumph over Matt Kuchar.

Pan will face a stellar field this week with the RBC Heritage the eighth designated tournament this season, offering a lucrative prize fund of US$20 million.

Defending champion Jordan Spieth headlines the tournament which also features newly-crowned Masters champion and world number one Jon Rahm, second-ranked Scottie Scheffler and last year’s runner-up Patrick Cantlay, who also tied third at Harbour Town in 2017 and 2019.

Pan said: “I hope to get back to a good pace of play as soon as possible. I played in an event (on the Korn Ferry Tour) two weeks ago and I didn’t feel any pain. I have not played competitive golf for a while, and I may be a little rusty now. But I will adjust accordingly.”

Runner-up to Guan Tianlang in the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship (AAC) in 2012, Pan is one of only two Chinese Taipei players to taste victory on the PGA Tour, the other being TC Chen who won the 1987 Los Angeles Open, 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 FedEx Cup standings.

The slightly-built Pan, who is known for his accuracy, went on to become the first golfer from Chinese Taipei to represent the International Team in the Presidents Cup, partnering Hideki Matsuyama twice in the Fourball sessions in 2019 and earning two points.

He said his left wrist had been bothering him for the past few years, affecting 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,” said Pan, who underwent PRP treatment.

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 five-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 improve my concentration.”

Other AAC alumni competing in this week’s RBC Heritage are Koreans Kim Si-woo and Lee Kyoung-hoon along with their compatriots Tom Kim and Im Sung-jae.