Maybank Championship starts for 15 locals

Shahriffuddin Ariffin ©Arep Kulal|PGM Tour

KUALA LUMPUR: Shahriffuddin Ariffin will lead a strong local challenge at the Maybank Championship next month alongside the country’s top-ranked Asian Tour players.

The reigning Professional Golf of Malaysia (PGM) Tour Order of Merit champion headlines a contingent of ten players from the flourishing domestic circuit, including Nachimuthu Ramasamy, Arie Irawan, Sukree Othman, Khor Kheng Hwai, Kemarol Baharin, Airil Rizman Zahari, Amir Nazrin Jailani, Mohd Wafiyuddin Abdul Manaf and Sasidaran Muthiah.

Asia’s newly minted number one Gavin Kyle Green is joined by fellow automatic qualifiers Nicholas Fung, Ben Leong and Danny Chia – all Asian Tour winners in their own right – in the diverse field of 156 golfers, who will compete for the total prize purse of US$3 million.

The Green family will be further represented at Saujana Golf & Country Club by national amateur Galven Kendall, who is awarded an invite as the country’s top-ranked amateur. He starts alongside China’s Lin Yuxin, who won the 2017 Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship in New Zealand.

Endorsed by the Sports Commissioner of Malaysia and supported by professional golfing bodies across the region, Maybank Championship will once again provide a significant platform for Malaysian golfers seeking to gain valuable experience and Official World Golf Ranking points.

“It is indeed exciting for us to announce the best selection of Malaysian golfers who will be representing our country in the upcoming Maybank Championship 2018. These players have trained vigorously and played extremely well throughout the past year to make it to this year’s list and we are thrilled to see them in action come this February 1-4,” said Maybank group president and chief executive Datuk Abdul Farid Alias.

“Our very own Gavin Green, the first Malaysian to win the Asian Tour Order of Merit, whom we have recently extended our multi-year sponsorship as Maybank’s ASEAN Ambassador, will be part of the exciting line-up as well. Aside from Green, renowned golfers from Malaysia such as Nicholas Fung, Ben Leong and Danny Chia who qualified through their own merit through the Asian Tour will also be taking part in the action,” he added.