Ramayah back to lead Malaysian camp in PGM-IGT meet

KUALA LUMPUR: The Professional Golf of Malaysia (PGM) have turned to 13-time World Cupper M. Ramayah to wrest the trophy in the PGM-IGT Championship from Aug 1-3 at the Tiara Melaka Golf & Country Club in Melaka.

The annual team competition is returning to Malaysia and the 63-year-old Ramayah has been named as the non-playing captain to lead the 12-man PGM side.

Malaysia lost to Indonesian Gold Tour (IGT) at last year’s edition.

Besides Ramayah, the others in the team are S. Sivachandhran, Kenneth De Silva, Daeng Abdul Rahman Abdul Aziz, Amir Nazrin Jailani, Khor Kheng Hwai, R. Nachimuthu, Amirul Aizat Abdul Bahar, Shahriffuddin Ariffin, Sukree Othman, Kim Leun Kwang, Wafiyuddin Abdul Manaf and Nazri Zain.

They will be without five key golfers — Gavin Kyle Green, Nicholas Fung, Danny Chia, Ben Leong and Arie Irawan Fauzi — who have commitments abroad.

The championships debuted in 2016 and PGM scored a 92-shot win in a stroke-play format over Indonesia at the Kota Seriemas Golf and Country Club in Nilai, Negri Sembilan.

Last year, the format was changed to match play in Bogor, Indonesia, and the hosts turned the table on Malaysians by claiming an emphatic 14½-8½ victory.

Ramayah will bank on his experience to lead the team. Together with the late P. Gunasegaran, they were once placed a creditable ninth at the 1994 World Cup in Puerto Rico.

“I know the strength of each player and my task is find the winning formula by fielding the right pair- ing,” said Ramayah.

“The biggest mistake we did last year was the players picked their own partner based on their own preference.

“Team spirit is important too. It’s my task to instil camaraderie among players.

Being the stronger team on paper, PGM chairman Tun Ahmad Sarji Abdul Hamid said they cannot afford to lose for the second year running.

“We underestimated them and were humbled 14½-8½ last year,” said Ahmad Sarji.