Kuala Lumpur: The Professional Golf of Malaysia (PGM) unveiled its biggest schedule on Friday – with 24 tournaments slated for its fourth season next year with a combined prize fund nearing RM5 million.
Twelve tournaments will be co-sanctioned with the Asian Development Tour – up from nine in 2013 – with three further events to be run in conjunction with the ASEAN PGA Tour.
The tour will tee-off with the elite I&P Tournament of Champions at Templer Park Country Club on January 13-16 – featuring the top 33 finishers on the burgeoning domestic circuit since its inception in 2010.
New venues for the 2014 season include Amverton Cove Golf & Island Resort, Damai Laut Golf & Country Club, Palm Garden Golf Club, Penang Golf Club, Royal Pahang Golf Club, Staffield Country Club and Tiara Melaka Golf & Country Club.
Speaking during the official presentation of the schedule at Kuala Lumpur Golf & Country Club, PGM chairman Tun Ahmad Sarji Abdul Hamid explained that the Tour was pleased to continue its strong partnership with the Asian Development Tour, given the benefits reaped by the Malaysian professionals.
“Flush with funds provided by the Government as well as the private sector, we are confident that the fourth season of the PGM Tour will continue its upward trend and continue to play its role as a catalyst for professional golf in the country.
“As a composite Tour, we are indeed honoured to have partnered the Asian Development Tour in recent years, to further raise the level of competition for our local professionals as well as paving a route for them to eventually join the Asian Tour,” he noted.
With the ADT events now offering Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) points, Ahmad Sarji was confident that a Malaysian will eventually earn a spot at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
“Our PGM Tour Order of Merit champion Nicholas Fung is a fine example of how the partnership has benefited our players. Starting the year ranked 1428th in the world, Fung is now placed 326th – having won one and finished top-five in four ADT events.
“In total three Malaysians are ranked inside the top 100 in Asia. I believe that if Fung and the rest continue to persevere and take advantage of the growing number of ADT events on home soil, Malaysia will be surely represented at the XXXI Olympiad.”
Also present was Asian Tour executive chairman Kyi Hla Han, who lauded the PGM Tour for playing a major role in the growth of professional golf in Malaysia and around the region.
“We see that the Malaysian players are starting to make an impact on the Asian Tour and it is a result of Tun Ahmad Sarji’s far-sighted vision and the professionalism of the PGM over the last three years.
“The PGM is not only the backbone of the Asian Development Tour but has also played an instrumental role in the creation of the EurAsia Cup presented by DRB-HICOM, which will see European’s best take on the stars of Asia in a Ryder Cup-styled tournament at Glenmarie Golf & Country Club in March,” said Han.
In other development, Ahmad Sarji alluded that the PGM remains in talk with the European Tour on the possibility of holding a Challenge Tour event in Malaysia, in addition to submitting an application to be an associate member of the International Federation of PGA Tours through the Asian Tour.
