Charl Schwartzel picked up his first win since the 2011 Masters.  He fired rounds of 65-65-68-65 for a total of 25-under par to win by 11 shots over Bubba Watson and Thitiphun Chuayprakong.

The Thailand Golf Championship is an Asian Tour event in just its second year of existence.  Lee Westwood won this event in 2011.

This was Schwartzel’s first win on the Asian Tour.  He has seven European Tour wins to go along with his Green Jacket.

He won the Joburg Open in Jauary, the Masters in April, and had nine other Top-10’s on the European Tour in 2011.  After his dream season in 2011 he struggled in 2012 with only five top-10 finishes and finished No. 16 in the Race to Dubai.

Schwartzel also had two top-10 finishes on the PGA Tour, made 13 cuts and $1.1 million in 2012.  He finished No. 90 on the FedEx Cup points list.

The field in Thailand included some familiar names:  Lee Westwood, Bubba Watson, Sergio Garcia, Nicolas Colsaerts, Daniel Chopra, Darren Clarke and Hunter Mahan.  John Daly failed to make the 36-hole cut.

The win moves Schwartzel up four places in the Official World Golf Rankings to No. 23.

Being a player from South Africa that had played primarily on the European Tour his win at the Masters opened up a host of opportunities for Schwartzel.  Traveling around the world chasing appearance fees and other money making activities caused his game to suffer in 2012.

He seems to be back on track and this convincing win could signal that a resurgent Charl Schwartzel could be a frequent visitor to winner circles in 2013.