Kuching [SARAWAK]: The Sarawak Championship will return for its second straight edition on the Asian Tour from August 15-18 next month.

To be staged at the Arnold Palmer-designed Damai Golf and Country Club located in Kuching, the capital of Sarawak, the Sarawak Championship will once again offer a prize purse of US$300,000 this year.

Supported by the state government of Sarawak, the Sarawak Championship will offer the region’s leading players, along with talented professionals from Malaysia, the opportunity to vie for top honours at the full-field Asian Tour event.

It will also be the second event to be sanctioned by the Asian Tour in Malaysia after the Maybank Championship that took place earlier in March.

Asian Tour commissioner and chief executive Cho Minn Thant credited the strong support and commitment of the Sarawak State Government for the return of the Sarawak Championship and is confident of raising the stature of the event even further.

“The return of the Sarawak Championship to the Asian Tour’s schedule is made possible because of the vision and commitment of the Sarawak State government. We are grateful for their support and we look forward to strengthening this partnership for many years to come.

“We are also confident of delivering another exciting week of world-class golf to the local galleries and global audience through our media platforms,” said Cho.

American John Catlin sank a clutch birdie putt on the last hole to win by one shot for his second Asian Tour title at the inaugural Sarawak Championship last July.

Placed 186th on the latest Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR), the titleholder is set to headline the talented 150-man field from 18 countries when he defends his title at the Sarawak Championship next month.

Other notable players who will feature in the Sarawak Championship include Thai hotshots Sadom Kaewkanjana, Poom Saksansin and Prom Meesawat, as well as India’s Khalin Joshi and Ajeetesh Sandhu, all proven winners on the Asian Tour.