Kuala Lumpur: Danny Chia moved up 174 spots on the latest Official World Golf Rankings following his victory at the Professional Golf of Malaysia (PGM) Northport Glenmarie Masters on the Asian Development Tour (ADT) last Saturday.

The ADT, which is the feeder circuit of the Asian Tour, entered a new and exciting era when all of its events started receiving world ranking points from this year onwards.

Chia received six points for his win in the year’s third ADT event and is currently in 496th position in the world.

Reigning domestic Order of Merit winner Nicholas Fung, who earned his 2013 Asian Tour card at the Qualifying School in Thailand earlier in January, settled for second place behind Chia but the result propelled him to 860th in the world, a 575-rung improvement from his previous ranking.

“The world ranking points help us as a player to see how we’ve improved,” said Chia following his wire-to-wire win at Glenmarie Golf & Country Club.

A total of nine ADT events will be staged in Malaysia this season in conjunction with the PGM Tour, giving local professionals an important platform to improve their standings on the OWGR and perhaps, earn a spot at the 2016 Olympics in Rio De Janeiro.

“We have a strong partnership with the PGM Tour as we share the same goals to create more playing opportunities and improving the standard of golf in the country. Danny’s achievement is testament that many Malaysians are benefiting from the ADT,” said Asian Tour Executive Chairman Kyi Hla Han.

“The world rankings is a very crucial element in a golfer’s career and the Asian Tour and ADT are proud to give our players this opportunity to take their career to new heights,” he added.