Gavin edges closer to spots in CIMB Classic and Shanghai meet

KUALA LUMPUR: National No. 1 Gavin Kyle Green’s third runner-up finish of the season at the just-concluded Shinhan Donghae Open has virtually sealed him a start in two lucrative tournaments next month – the CIMB Classic and WGC-HSBC Champions in Shanghai.

A cool pay cheque of US$116,460 (RM487,700) has moved Gavin up one rung to third in the latest Asian Tour Order of Merit.

He now has season earnings of US$367,346 (RM1.54mil) from 11 events. He sits behind Australian Scott Hend, who has US$416,929 (RM1.75mil) and American David Lipsky, who earned US$376,529 (RM1.58mil).

The leading 10 Asian Tour money earners as of Oct 9 will qualify for the US$7mil (RM29.35mil) CIMB Classic from Oct 12-15 while the top four will see action in the US$9.75mil (RM40.8mil) WGC-HSBC Champions from Oct 26-29.

Both no-cut championships are jointly sanctioned by the Asian Tour and US PGA Tour.

“I’m definitely looking forward to playing in these big events in Malaysia and China,” said Gavin, who also moved up to world No. 222 from No. 250 yesterday.

“That was also one of my goals coming into last week’s event. I needed a good finish to secure my place in these two events. I’m really pleased with my runner-up effort in South Korea.”

By also finishing second in the European Tour’s co-sanctioned Indian Open in March and Yeangder Heritage in Taiwan in April, Gavin is surely a strong contender for the Rookie of the Year award.

He missed only two cuts in 11 starts, with a joint 10th finish at the Thailand Open being his other notable result.