Playing on a sponsor’s invitation this week, Ritchie is aware of the benefits that his compatriots have reaped from playing on the Asian Tour and hopes to follow their same path to glory.

Ritchie, who is leading the Order of Merit on the Sunshine Tour, will have his title ambitions put to the test against a strong international field where players from 24 countries have gathered for the US$500,000 full-field Asian Tour event.

“The Bank BRI Indonesia Open really changed Justin Harding’s life completely,” Ritchie said.

“He went from being almost 1000 in the world to being top-50 in the world within a span of 8 months. So, I’m definitely hopeful that this event can change my life too. I’ve always wanted to come to Asia and I’ve always wanted to play on the Asian Tour.”

“I’m definitely hopeful that this event can change my life … I’ve always wanted to come to Asia and I’ve always wanted to play on the Asian Tour.” – JC Ritchie

In one of the marquee groups for the opening two rounds, Ritchie will be playing alongside Indonesia’s number one Danny Masrin and Thailand’s Jazz Janewattananond who is expected to feature prominently on the leaderboard, having already won twice this season and finishing strongly at the Pondok Indah Golf Course in the 2017 edition.

Sweden’s Daniel Chopra is looking forward to another memorable ‘homecoming’ as he returns to the Pondok Indah Golf Course, ready to rekindle all the fond memories he has of the host venue.

All eyes will also be on Indonesia’s George Gandranata who is among the 31-strong local contingent at the Bank BRI Indonesia Open, which is also the Asian Tour’s first stop in Indonesia this season.