ARTEMIO Murakami will be a marked man at the season-opening $300,000 Asian Tour International beginning Thursday following his triumph at The Country Club Invitational last month.

Murakami shot an 18-hole course record 62 on opening day and never looked back. He cruised to an easy win and dethroned defending titlist and fellow Asian Tour player Juvic Pagunsan in the process.

The Filipino-Japanese hopes to sustain the level of play he showed at TCC for the rest of the year in the coming Asian Tour season. And with the help of mentor Frankie Mi?oza, the 25-year-old star knows he can do it.

?I thank Kuya Frankie [Mi?oza] for continuing to believe in me. I would do everything to be successful again in the Asian Tour,? said the burly Murakami.

His last victory came in 2007 at the Iskandar Johor Open in Malaysia. Overall, he earned $131,367 (P6.1 million) in 26 tournaments and was in 47th place in the Asian Tour?s 2008 Order of Merit final standing.

Also on target for Murakami, whose shots from tees to greens are very impressive so far, is another stint in the highly competitive US Open this year. He got shut out after two days in his debut in 2008. Adrian Flores