Kuala Lumpur: With less than a week before the Maybank Malaysian Open tees off at Kuala Lumpur Golf & Country Club, event organisers have announced that the high quality field in attendance will be among the strongest witnessed in recent times.
Five Major champions will headline the 156-strong cast at the 51st edition of the National Open, with 2005 US Open winner Michael Campbell and 2004 Open Champion Todd Hamilton joining earlier announced star players Martin Kaymer, the 2010 PGA Championship winner, 2010 Open Champion Louis Oosthuizen and last year’s Masters victor Charl Schwartzel.
In addition to the line-up of Major winners, the tournament will live-up to its tagline of Celebrating Champions with seven of the 11 winners on the European Tour so far this season confirming that they will travel to Kuala Lumpur for the US$2.5 million event, co-sanctioned with the Asian Tour.
Leading the Continental challenge will be the exciting South African Branden Grace, who won back-to-back events in January when he claimed a sensational swoop of the Joburg Open and the Volvo Golf Champions after a play-off with with his childhood idols Ernie Els and Retief Goosen.
Also confirmed for the premier event are Robert Rock (Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship), Rafael Cabrera-Bello (Omega Dubai Desert Classic), Jbe Kruger (Avantha Masters) Julien Quesne (Open de Andalucía Costa de Sol) and Michael Hoey (Trophée Hassan II). Oosthuizen was the other winner, lifting the season-opening Africa Open in January.
Kruger’s co-sanctioned victory in India saw him catapult to the top of the current Asian Tour Order of Merit, and the South African will be hoping to further consolidate his position in Malaysia with likes of reigning Asian Tour numero uno Juvic Pagunsan of the Philippines leading the pan-Asian challenge.
The Maybank Malaysian Open promoters also announced the inclusion of three wildcard picks – Zhang Liang-Wei, the first mainland Chinese player to win a European Tour event, young Englishman Tommy Fleetwood and former Amateur World Number One Peter Uihlein of the United States – will join the battle on the greens for the prestigious Seagram Trophy.
