CHANCES APLENTY FOR GAVIN TO ACHIEVE MANY GOALS
KUALA LUMPUR: One can hardly fault Malaysia’s top golfer Gavin Kyle Green after his first few events in the European Tour.
The 24-year-old European Tour rookie earned his fourth cut in five appearances this season by finishing joint 39th at the Maybank Championship last Sunday, moving him up from 96th to 83rd spot in the Race to Dubai standings.
The Race to Dubai is a season-long competition equivalent to the Asian Tour Order of Merit, where Gavin is the reigning No. 1 with points accu- mulated based on prize money won.
Gavin has picked up 13,712 (RM64,000) from his effort at the Maybank Championship to bring his season tally to 44,736 points.
He also amassed 4,396 points through his tied 62nd finish at the Hong Kong Open, Joburg Open (tied 19th, 11,216), and Dubai Desert Classic (tied 45th, 12,102).
The only tournament Gavin failed to make the cut for was the Mauritius Open.
Gavin needs to finish in the top 100 by the end of the season to keep his European Tour card.
But he will surely be aiming for more than that. Winning a European Tour event is just one of his main goals this season.
“I want to keep my card and finish the (European Tour) season as strong as I can,” said Gavin, who owns a Category 16 exemption status this season by virtue of being the Asian Tour Order of Merit winner.
Opportunities are aplenty for Gavin to continue climbing the Race to Dubai rankings in the coming weeks.
He will compete next at the Oman Open from Feb 15-18, World Golf Championship ( WGC)- Mexico Championship (March 1-4) and Indian Open ( March 8-11), which are all co-sanctioned events by the European Tour.
The 78-man WGC-Mexico Championship is a no-cut event and Gavin is assured of pocketing no
less than 40,000 (RM194,000).
He’s also eyeing the Indian Open after finishing runner-up in New Delhi last year.
“My tee shot is a bit off, so I’m gonna prepare hard for those events and hopefully, I’ll come back stronger,” said Gavin.
“My consistency is there and on my good days, I just need to go low. But I haven’t had that yet.”