Meet the Scottish golfer who has become 'Big in Japan'

Yates won twice on the Asian Tour, landing his breakthrough victory in the Sabah Masters in Malaysia in 1998 before adding the SK Telecom Open in South Korea six years later. With 14 runner-up finishes as well, he was one of the first ten players to reach $1 million in career earnings on the circuit.

Now, Yates, who moved to Thailand after first visiting on holiday, is making his mark in the senior ranks, landing the biggest win of his career in the Japan Senior PGA Championship and following it up with a more recent triumph on the Thailand Champions Tour.

“I’m doing pretty well, especially considering I was semi-retired for a few years,” he said, laughing, in an interview with The Scotsman. “Just before Covid, I went to the Japan Tour Q School and we had to go through four different stages. It’s called a pro test and any young player who wants to make it as a player has to go through this pro test to prove he can actually play.

“So us seniors at that time had to go through that and the reason for it is that if you don’t do that, the Japanese only give three spots for foreigners. If I was fourth on the order of merit - and last year I was fifth - and, say, there are three foreign players in front of me, then you still have to go back to Q School.

“But, since we did this pro test, then we are basically treated like the Japanese and, if you are inside the top 30, then you are exempt. Jeev Milkha Singh (who enjoyed his finest hour when winning the Scottish Open at Castle Stuart in 2012) lost his card after finishing 32nd in the order of merit, so he is going back to the finals this month and then it starts up in April again.

“We’ve only got four senior tournaments until the middle of August and then you have about 12 from then until the end of November. Most of the tournaments are during that spell as Japanese summer is ridiculously hot - it’s hotter than Thailand. We have to walk and there are guys there who are 72 or 73 years old playing. Legends like Tommy Nakajima.”

‘It was incredible actually’

The Japan Senior PGA is one of the circuit’s two majors - the Japan Senior Open is the other one - and he landed a three-year exemption in style by holing his second shot at the closing hole for a title-winning eagle at - appropriately - Eagle Point Golf Club, which is located to the east of the city of Ushiku.

“To do it by holing my second shot with a 54-degree wedge from 111 yards at the last was something that just doesn’t happen. And I was one shot behind when I did it,” he said. “I hit it 110 yards and the wind was off the right, so I aimed it a bit right and let the wind take it. It landed parallel with the flag and went on it a bit before spinning straight into the hole. It was incredible actually and a really good feeling.

“I would say it was my biggest win. Japan is a massive golfing nation. I think they’ve got the second biggest number of golf courses in the world after the US. So they are mad keen on golf and we get great crowds. They have a lot of legends, including Shingo Katayama, and quite a few guys who are high up on the order of merit are playing the seniors now.

“I bring my family to a lot of the events and we treat it as a holiday. When I finish a round of golf, we all have something to go and see. We make it a holiday and not just about playing golf. It is really cool. It is a great country with lovely people and just a nice experience.”

His win on the Thai Champions Tour came in an event backed by Singha - his sponsor - at Black Mountain Golf Club in Hua Hin District. “The depth is not like Japan, where, out of the field of 85-90, you could say there are 30-40 guys who could win,” said Yates, who cut his teeth as a professional under George Yule at Royal Burgess on the outskirts of Edinburgh. “But, in Thailand, there’s probably six guys who can win and nobody else.

“There’s a guy called Thammanoon Sriroj and also Prayad Markaseng and Thaworn Wiratchant, who still has the record of winning more Asian Tour events than anyone else. He’s won 18 times and all four of us play in Japan. There’s two others - Chawalit Phlaphol and a guy called Udon Duangdecha. But a win is a win. You still have to play well.”

Yates lives in Hua Hin, which is roughly two hours south of Bangkok. He played recently with Johan Edfors, the Swede who won the Scottish Open at Loch Lomond in 2006 and has just started out on the European Legends Tour after turning 50.

‘It’s all go out here’

“He still bombs it and he is strong and fit,” observed Yates. “Yet he told me that he was surprised when he went on the Legends Tour. He thought the guys would be old and that the young guys would dominate, but he was surprised by how good the standard still is.”

Though unconfirmed, Yates could soon have a Scot for company out in Thailand. “Someone was telling me that David Drysdale might be buying a place in Hua Hin,” he said. “He loves it out here, as does Vicky, his wife. My mum and dad live here now and the last time I was home (in Scotland) was three-and-a-bit years ago.

“It’s all go and that was the surprising thing about my most recent win as I took four weeks off and didn’t touch a golf club. I was down in Phuket, where I have four properties and I went to check them out. I came back after a month there then the day after Christmas we went skiing for two weeks in Japan, where the snow is so good.”

Life certainly sounds good for Simon Yates.