Monday November 05, 2007, 03:31 AM

The Singapore Open leaderboard might have read like a who's who of world golf, but a host of Asian Tour regulars held their own in a tournament going from strength to strength.

With US Open champion Angel Cabrera, three-time Major winner Vijay Singh and world number six Adam Scott filling the top three, Asian Tour players were left to fight for the minor placings, but it bodes well for the future.

Jin Park, an American who is on his first regular season of Asian Tour golf, finished fourth while Thailand's Prom Messawat was sixth.

Other Asian Tour regulars -- Mark Brown of New Zealand, Kane Webber of Australia and India's Shiv Kapur -- all secured top 10 finishes ahead of players such as Phil Mickleson, K.J Choi, Ernie Els, and Charles Howell III.

"The Asian Tour has given me the opportunity to play with the superstars. The confidence that I'll take out of this week will be something that money cannot buy," said Park.

"I played with Angel Cabrera and Adam Scott and Lee Westwood and to play with those guys, I wasn't comfortable being out there with them.

"But if I have the opportunity again, I know I might be able to compete and finish off the tournament stronger, and that is something I will take away."

He also takes away a 197,200 US dollar cheque from a tournament that has positioned itself as the biggest in Asia over the past three years and one of the most lucrative Opens in the world.

Asian Tour chief Kyi Hla Han's vision has been to build attractive tournaments like the Singapore Open where hospitality is as important as the prizemoney to lure the big stars for the benefit of Asian Tour regulars.

"We now have more tournaments on the Asian Tour and our players are gaining more experience, especially with people like Mickelson, Els, Scott, and Westwood coming here," he said.

"Through our World Ranking status, there's every opportunity for our players to play their way into the Majors. That gives added incentive for our guys to perform."

Rising Thai star Prom, who lifted his maiden Asian Tour title at the SK Telecom Open in May, said finishing ahead of some of the top names in golf was a massive confidence-booster.

"This is my third top 10 here, I like this golf course," he said.

"It is so exciting to have come ahead of names like Phil Mickelson, Ernie Els and Michael Campbell.

"My aim now is to finish in the top three of the Asian Tour's UBS Order of Merit. If I can do that I'll get into some of the World Golf Championships events."

The big disappointment of the weekend was the failure of Asian number one Liang Wen-chong to make a challenge, ending a lowly joint 52nd at 13 over par, 21 shots behind winner Cabrera.

But there was celebration for golden oldie Boonchu Ruangkit, who broke through the million-dollar mark in winnings in Asia.

The 51-year-old, arguably the best Asian golfer of his generation and who has helped nurture some of Thailand's most promising talent, became the Tour’s 15th million dollar man by finishing 19th.

"It has taken a lot of time to make the cash but the prize money in the early days of the Tour was not as good as it is today," he said.

© 2007 AFP/sid