Strong local charge at Impian Classic

Mohd Iylia Jamil

Kajang, Selangor, May 4: A strong cast of winners will spearhead the local charge at the Professional Golf of Malaysia – Asian Development Tour – Chemical Corporation of Malaysia Impian Classic, which tees-off tomorrow at the Impian Golf & Country Club.

The newest RM200,000 (approximately US$67,000) Asian Development Tour event has attracted many of the region’s promising talent, including Malaysia’s upcoming players Sukree Othman, Mohd Iylia Jamil and Kemarol Bahrain as well as Asian Tour regulars Danny Chia and Shaaban Hussin. The quintet have registered a victory each so far on the burgeoning Professional Golf of Malaysia (PGM) Tour which teed-off in December 2010.

Rookie professional Iylia is aiming to arrest a slight dip in form after his career-boosting victory at the PGM Kinrara Classic in March. “This will be my third tournament in as many weeks and fatigue is surely coming into play. I’ve probably haven’t played up to my own expectations in recent weeks but I’m looking forward to the challenge at the Impian Classic,” said the 20-year-old after his final practice round at the Ross Watson-designed championship layout.

The presence of fellow young stars from around Asia as well as established local professionals such as Chia, Iain Steel and Ben Leong has been a rallying point  for Iylia. “It definitely feels different this week. We have some good names from the Asian Tour such Artemio (Murakami) and Himmat (Singh Rai) as well as our own top professionals in the field, so there’s no doubt that it will be a tough contest.

“As a young professional, I can only get better by playing more competitive tournaments such as this. The Asian Development Tour has definitely been a learning platform for me as the standard of play is much higher and the scores are consistently low. Hopefully, I can hold my own this week and spring a surprise or two,” he added.

Sukree Othman

Sukree, who leads the PGM Tour Order of Merit is looking forward to another good display after winning the PGM Harvard Classic a fortnight ago. “I have my gameplan ready and I’m going to try to stay on top of my game this week. The course is a bit soggy due to the inclement weather and this will surely lengthen the fairway a fair bit, so it’s important that my driving remains consistent,” he said, noting that Impian’s famous green were rolling true with good pace.

Once-again the top-ranked Malaysian in the field, Chia is hopeful that the event will spur the burgeoning local tour to greater heights.”This joint effort by the Professional Golf of Malaysia Tour and the Asian Development Tour is laudable as it is provides a great sparring opportunity for our local boys and to gauge their standards against fellow Asian professionals. I hope that a Malaysian will be crowned champion on Sunday,” expressed the 38-year-old, who is playing through a niggling neck and elbow problem.

China’s Ye Jian-feng, winner of the China Amateur Open in 2008, will be one of the Asian young guns names to follow at the Impian Classic. The talented Ye made a name for himself on the Asian Tour in 2004 when he became the youngest player at 13 years and 20 days to play in the Sanya Open in China.

Singapore’s Quincy Quek and Goh Kun Yang, highly rated after solid amateur careers, will also feature in the Impian Classic along with Michael Tran of Vietnam, Chinese Taipei’s Hsu Chia-jen, who finished second on the Asian Development Tour Order of Merit last season, and Sri Lanka’s Mithun Perera, who is making a return to Malaysia after winning the Kurnia-Saujana Amateur Open last year.

The PGM-ADT-CCM Impian Classic is the sixth stop on the PGM Tour and will feature the top 68 players from the PGM Tour’s Order of Merit as well as four local invitees. Completing the field is a 72-player selection from the Asian Tour.