Green is making progress

Young Malaysian looking forward to second half of the season

THE second half of the season starts in earnest this week, following the mid-year break, and the pros will have mapped out the routes they intend to take and set about attempting to achieve their goals set for the next six months.

For Malaysia’s top-ranked Gavin Green, in his first full season on the Asian Tour, having earned his card via a second-place finish on the Asian Development Tour (ADT) last term, there are a few goals that he has of his own.

Not the least of these is to try and finish in the top-five of the Asian Tour’s Order of Merit. And who knows, the 25-year-old might well go all the way and land the coveted title of being Asia’s number one.

A tall order it may be, but a really good run of form and results would certainly put him up there with a decentecent chance.chance

As things stand, Gre een is fourth on the Asian Tour Order of M Merit. If he were to retain a top-four place e towards the end of the campaign, the you ung Malaysian would secure a place in the World Golf Championship (WGC)-HSBC Champions Tournament at Sheshan International l Golf Club in Shanghai, China at the end of Oc ctober.

A spot on the Asian team’s roster for the EurAsia Cup, a biennia al showdown between Asia and Europe at Gle enmarie Golf Club in Shah Alam, Selangor, i is also a target within Green’s sights.

While no dates have e been fixed yet for the event, there is specula ation that it will be featured sometime in December or January, perhaps more so the la atter as the Asian Tour’s scheduled for th he second half of this season has already bee en released.

Speaking of the two international competitions that boas st star-studded line-ups and some of the world’s best players, Green said: “Those two events are definitely targets that I am interested in and which could be achieved if things go the right way.

“They are massive tournaments that would very much help me in the learning process that I am going through,” added the player who only turned pro in 2015 and won three events on the Professional Golf of Malaysia (PGM) Tour and ADT

– one of them as an amateur player.

In 2014 Green clinched the PGM Vascory Templer

Park Championship and after turning pro won the co-sanctioned PGM Northport Glenmarie Championship, as well as the ICTSI Manila Southwoods Championship in the Philippines.

With a few sponsors’ exemptions on the European Tour also bolstering his progress, he said: “I must say that playing on the European Tour from time to time is very helpful.

“For me, it opens my mind to different things about the game and has helped me with my progress in learning more about the game of golf and myself as a player and person.

Commenting further on the progress of his game,game Green said he was haphappy with his transition from amateur to p ro, and the progress made thereafter. “I have to say that I am happy with thhe progress that I’’ve made so far. AAnd before we ggo any further I must add that wwhile there’s bbeen a huge immprovement frrom the time I first started out, I knnow I still have a lonng way to go and impprove even more. Turniing to the first of the year he addedd: “I made the cut at the Omegaa Dubai Desert Classic, Maybannk Championship (both in Februaary), and the Hero Indian OpenO (in March).”

In those three events he finished tied for 32nd, T45 and runner-up.

“Those were huge tournaments for me and gave me lots of confidence and I gained loads of experience. But as I said, I still obviously have a long way to go and I’m learning all the time.

“In India it was a really big thing for me as it taught me a lot of things and I’m just so happy to be making progress,” he added.

To date, Green has seasonal earnings of US$248,071, which has propelled him to fourth on the Order of Merit. With that he is just under US$88,500 behind leader American David Lipsky and about US$7,000 adrift of third-placed Phachara Khongwatmai of Thailand.

Green’s progress has also been down to the support team around him and his sponsors.

“Obviously my family has been with me all the way and I’m grateful for that. I’m also grateful for the sponsorship received from Maybank, adidas/TaylorMade, my management company Excel and TPC Kuala Lumpur, all of whom have helped tremendously – in different ways.”

So now, as the pros prepare to get going again as the second half of the season begins to unfold, Green is readying himself for more than just one goal. If he keeps his head down we should be hearing a few more things about the lad who averages 310 yards off the tee.