Kuala Lumpur: Malaysia’s newest golf star Nicholas Fung is prepared to rise to the occasion as he dreams of glory at the US$2.75 million Maybank Malaysian Open later this month.
The 23-year-old Fung is riding high on his new-found confidence after being a part of Team Asia which produced a stunning fightback to share the inaugural EurAsia Cup presented by DRB-HICOM with Team Europe here last week.
Although the young Malaysian did not win any of his matches, he earned plenty of praise for his fighting performance, especially in the singles session when he narrowly lost to European captain Miguel Angel Jimenez by 1-hole on the 18th green.
“I am proud of myself,” said Fung. “It shows that I can play under pressure with a big crowd following our match and this will be a good lesson for me especially when I will be playing in the Maybank Malaysian Open. I still need to learn and playing against Miguel, I could see that he wasn’t under pressure in our match. I need to keep improving my game to become better.”
Fung will be on a personal mission at the Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club from April 17 to 20 as he has never made the halfway cut in seven previous appearances at the national championship, three as an amateur and four as a professional.
He conceded that the KLGCC’s West course has proven to be his nemesis in recent times. “This would be my fourth time playing at the KLGCC and I’ve never played well there. The bunkers are always trapping me,” said Fung, who is the reigning Asian Development Tour number one.
“I’ve started going to the gym and doing a lot more cardio work to try to hit the ball longer and get stronger. I have gained some extra yards, so hopefully it will help me at the Maybank Malaysian Open. I believe this year, I can master the West course. I’m feeling confident now, especially after the experience at the EurAsia Cup.”
No Malaysian has won the Maybank Malaysian Open in its illustrious history, with P. Gunasegaran, M. Ramayah and Danny Chia flirting with success in the past. Fung knows the task to become the first Malaysian winner is an uphill one, especially when the cream from the Asian Tour and European Tour will be assembling in Malaysia.
Former champions Lee Westwood, Louis Oosthuizen, Matteo Manassero and Thongchai Jaidee, the Asian captain at the EurAsia Cup, will be the headliners at this month’s Maybank Malaysian Open.
“It’ll be nice to become the first Malaysian winner but it will be a tough challenge. However, all it takes is one good week … anything can happen in golf,” said Fung.
“I’ve never made the cut at the Malaysian Open, so that would be the first target to try and get into the weekend. As an amateur, I have always wanted to play in the Malaysian Open but the challenge for us is to try to win the tournament,” said Fung.
