Shariffuddin lines up at Saujana with Order of Merit in mind

PETALING JAYA: It’s obvious now why golfer Shariffuddin Ariffin made the bold move to turn professional when he was just 16 two years ago.

The boy’s really talented.

Just into his third season on the PGM Tour, Shariffuddin finds himself in the running for the Order of Merit title with only two events left on the schedule, including the RM200,000 PGM GlobalOne Championship, an Asian Development Tour (ADT) jointly-sanctioned tournament, which tees off at the Saujana Golf and Country Club in Subang today.

Shariffuddin leads the PGM Tour money list with season earnings of RM117,309 – about RM15,000 ahead of nearest challenger R. Nachimuthu (RM101,884), but he intends to leave no stone unturned in his bid to be crowned the PGM Tour Player of the Year.

“I think two more top-five finishes should help me seal it,” said Shariffuddin confidently.

“It’s important that I finish strongly and distance myself from my rivals. That will set me up nicely for the season-ending PGM Maybank Players Championship (Dec 6-9).”

Shariffuddin has been a revelation this season – with nine top-10 finishes in 17 appearances. He captured his first PGM Tour title at the PGM Tiara Closed Championship in Melaka in August.

“I’ve been surprised by the pace of my progress. I certainly didn’t think I would have a shot at winning the Order of Merit after just three seasons,” he said.

“But I’m always goal-driven. I remember when I first turned pro two years in 2015 that my target was to finish in the top 50. I finished 28th.

“Last year, I raised the bar to top 20 and I ended up 18th.

“This year, my goal was top five and I’ve got more than what I bargained for again.”

The actual top four PGM Tour money leaders are Gavin Kyle Green (RM1.42mil), Nicholas Fung ( RM443,268), Ben Leong ( RM289,198) and Danny Chia (RM242,354) but they secured a significant portion of their earnings on the Asian Tour.

Their names will be taken out from the final standings at the end of the season as none of them fulfilled the requirement of playing a minimum of eight local tournaments.

Gavin has only played twice, followed by Nicholas and Ben with seven appearances each and Danny six. The quartet are also not eligible to compete in the RM275,000 PGM Players Championship.