Thai star Prayad Marksaeng was over the moon after receiving confirmation this morning that he has earned a coveted place in the US Masters from April 9 to 12.    

The Asian Tour standout moved up to 47th place on the Official World Golf Ranking following a heroic final round performance at the inaugural Black Mountain Masters on Sunday where he shot a 64 to finish tied second.

“After I withdrew with injury at last year’s Masters, I always wanted to play my way back into the tournament. There were people who looked down on me after my withdrawal and said I would never be invited back. So I wanted to prove very badly that I could qualify on my own merit. I’m very happy,” said Prayad today.

There were anxious moments though for Prayad. He entered the week at 50th place in the world and needed to finish top-three at Black Mountain to have a chance of holding on to his position and make the final qualifying grade for the Masters.

After two rounds, the 43-year-old languished in 38th place, 10 shots off the lead but he produced terrific weekend cards of 67 and 64 to charge up the leaderboard.

He plans to head to Augusta on Thursday and is fired up to put up a better showing in his second appearance.

“I feel I can play the golf course. I still remember every detail of the course from last year’s experience and I hope to play well in the Masters. I’m looking forward to going there again as it is a great tournament,” said Prayad.

“I visited my mother during the Black Mountain Masters and she’s not too well but she asked why I wasn’t shooting good rounds. Then my youngest son asked me to shoot an eight under in the final round and I’m glad that I managed to do it.”

In 2008, Prayad, who has six victories on the Asian Tour, received a special invitation to play in Augusta National as recognition for his superb 2007 season where he had won three times in Japan.

But he was forced to withdraw midway through the second round due a back injury. He was disappointed to miss out on the boat at the end of last year where he finished 51st in the final world rankings but has shown some wonderful form this year, which includes a second place finish in Malaysia and 13th place at the WGC-CA Championship, to earn a ticket to the Masters.

Prayad will join Asian Tour members Jeev Milkha Singh of India and Lin Wen-tang of Chinese Taipei in the elite field next week. Singh and Lin, ranked first and second on the Asian Tour Order of Merit last season, earned their places by finishing inside the world’s top-50 at the end of last year.

Korea’s Yang Yong-eun and K.J. Choi, both graduates of the Asian Tour, will also play in the Masters. (AsianTour.com)