Ready to rumble with the Cobra
Maybank Championship loaded with champions all set to battle it out for the honours at Saujana
THIS year’s Maybank Championship has an exciting field that is laden with both experience and youth, yet it is also a formidable one that promises to bountifully deliver top-quality golf at Saujana Golf & Country Club in Shah Alam, Selangor.
To be played from Thursday through Sunday, the US$3mil tournament co-sanctioned by the European and Asian Tours has the likes of Ernie Els and Padraig Harrington in the line-up, who between them have seven Major titles.
There is also a good number of other world-class players in the line-up, including the evergreen Miguel Angel Jimenez, a popular and seasoned operator with 21 European Tour titles, and Thomas Bjorn, European Ryder Cup captain of the 2018 winning team.
There is little doubt that the old guard will find the up-and-coming players raring to go and ever so eager to make a mark of their own.
The new blood should have American Kurt Kitayama at the forefront as they bid to outshine the long-established pros. He is a two-time winner on the European Tour this season with victories at the Afrasia Bank Mauritius Open in December and the Oman Open earlier this month. And that success made him the fastest player ever on the Tour to win twice, achieving the feat in just his first 11 starts.
Kitayama, who was born in Chico, California, and went to the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, won the Professional Golf of Malaysia (PGM) Tour’s Darulaman Championship in January 2018 and kickstarted what turned out to be an exceptionally fine season for the now 26-year-old.
He secured his 2019 European Tour card at Qualifying School, safely negotiating all three stages after which he finished third overall and has climbed fourth in the race to Dubai standings – not bad for a lad who was plying his trade in Kedah just over a year ago.
Also aiming to build on what has been some decent form will be David Law, David Lipsky, Aaron Rai and Alexander Bjork – all of whom have won on the European circuit this season or last – as well as Lucas Herbert, Richard Sterne and Jazz Janewattananond.
Law will fancy his chances this week following his win at the ISPS Handa Vic Open in early February where his 18-underpar 270 was a performance of note – a similar showing at Saujana should have him contending.
Lipsky is another proven champion and the 2014 Asian Tour Order of Merit winner. His Alfred Dunhill Championship victory in South Africa in December is testament to his game and character, as was his runner-up finish in the 2017 Maybank Championship.
Rai, the 24-year-old from Wolverhampton, England, won the Honma Hong Kong Open in November for his first European Tour crown and will be just as keen to make the Maybank Championship his second.
Bjork’s breakthrough came at the 2018 Volvo China Open. The 38-year-old Swede, in the eyes of many, has great potential to add substantially to his victory count and Saujana could well be one of those.
Now 74th in the official world golf rankings, Bjork – who was once among Sweden’s top-10 junior tennis players – will be hoping that a win in Kuala Lumpur further solidifies his decision to choose golf, just as it did when he played in last season’s British Open and US PGA Championship.
A lot too is expected from Herbert. The Australian is 82nd in the world rankings and after a solid rookie season last year saw him finish 46th in the Race to Dubai, he is one of a few who believe a maiden victory is not far off the horizon.
Five top-five finishes and seven top-10s last year, highlighted by a career-best tied-for-second place at the Portugal Masters, should do Herbert some good as he pursues that first win.
Sterne has not won since the 2013 Joburg Open when he claimed his sixth European Tour title. But some good form over recent months has seen him move up to third in the Race to Dubai standings, albeit being early days.
The South African certainly has the game to triumph at an event as big as this and if things continue to come together for him, he too could well be among the front-runners next Sunday.
A runner-up at Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship and a tie for 13th at the inaugural Saudi International not so long ago will have given his confidence a boost and something he can use to further inspire his challenge for honours.
Notwithstanding all of this, South Africa’s Els and Irishman Harrington, who are the captains of the Presidents Cup International team and European Ryder Cup team, respectively, will go into the tournament as star attractions. And if they could somehow string together four quality rounds of golf, the young ones in the field might just learn something from them.
For defending champion Shubhankar Sharma, it will be case of attempting to repeat his success of last year in a tournament that should have at least 39 countries represented in Kuala Lumpur.
Sharma is no doubt more experienced than the last time he was here, having played across the globe over the last 12 months and at some of the biggest events in golf, including the four Majors.
He has said he likes Saujana’s Palm course, and why wouldn’t he after his two-shot victory last season? Another display like that should get him over the line again, or just about.
The 22-year-old proved a popular champion at
Saujana and he will almost certainly enjoy much support again this week.
The Asian Tour’s charge will be spearheaded by Jazz Janewattananond, who also plays the European circuit and currently leads the Asian Order of Merit.
The 23-year-old Thai secured his biggest win to date when he clinched the Singapore Open in January and helped propel him to 77th in the world, having started the year placed 123rd.
In his last 11 tournaments across all the Tours and dating back to last season, Jazz has had seven top-10s – clearly illustrating his consistency.
He too could be among those in with a shot at the title next Sunday.
There are 13 Malaysians in the field and top-ranked Gavin Green, who is also a Maybank ambassador, will want to do well on home ground.
Belgium’s World Cup champions Thomas Pieters and Thomas Detry will also want to make their presence felt here.
They won the team event in Melbourne, Australia, last November and will bring an added dimension to a line-up that will feature several Asian Tour winners who will be hoping for a good working week on a global stage.