Top guns likely to shine again
PGM Tour campaign gets under way this week with the Perlis Closed Championship
THE new Professional Golf of Malaysia (PGM) Tour season gets under way on Wednesday with the Perlis Closed Championship at Putra Golf Club in Kangar in what promises to be another closely fought and entertaining season.
PGM Player of the Year Shahriffuddin Ariffin is chasing an unprecedented third successive Order of Merit title and is expected to be among the leading contenders again when the season comes to a close with the Global One Players Championship in December.
Also tipped to be in the mix at the end of it all are Amir Nazrin, Sukree Othman, Kim Leun Kwang and Arie Irawan, who rounded off the 2018 top-five in that order.
Malaysia’s Big Four – Gavin Green, Ben Leong, Nicholas Fung and Danny Chia – are expected to again focus their energies on a greater number of events outside the country.
This leaves the rest to battle it out for the PGM honours, which does come with a handful or so of exemptions on the Asian Tour and a few other big international tournaments.
Shahriffuddin is at the Singapore Open this week, but earnings there also count towards the PGM Order of Merit points.
The PGM Tour’s top-10 does enjoy some leeway on the regional circuit where good finishes could mean quite a lot on the Order of Merit.
Thus, a good start in Perlis is always welcome.
Sukree, who also won the Sime Darby Closed Championship last April, clinched the RM200,000 event in northern Malaysia last season with a comprehensive six-stroke win and will be keen on a repeat.
Now one of the journeymen on Tour, Sukree said he was looking forward to defending his title as best as he could.
He added that he put “a lot of hard work” during the off-season without meddling with his swing or changing too much in his game.
“The Perlis Closed tournament last year was my second title there and it got me off to a good start and gave me confidence going into the new season.
“Hopefully I can find some of that form again and contend at Putra Golf Club. I like the event and the course suits my game.
“But either way, I will give it my best effort and see where it leaves me,” he added.
Leun Kwang, fourth on the Order of Merit, was runner-up in Perlis last time out and he too will be hoping for a solid start – aiming to go one better.
It was not clear whether Arie, joint third in the season opener last term and fifth on the Order of Merit, would be in the field this week. But if he is, likewise, he too will be focused on a decent start.
In the ladies’ Perlis Closed Championship, which carries RM35,000 in prize money, Nur Durriyah Damian is the defending champion.
She recently conceded that her plan this year was to do better on the international stage, and will not defend her title.
Ainil Johani Bakar, who topped the ladies’ PGM Tour Order of Merit with earnings of just under RM100,000 – nearly two-thirds of that accrued from events outside the PGM Tour – has confirmed that she will be making the trip to Perlis and in the absence of Durriyah should do well enough, without too much fuss to secure her first victory on the domestic Tour this year..
All the same, Dianne Luke, Aretha Pan and Michelle Koh will also likely to be contending, having confirmed their participation for this week.
Speaking ahead of the season, PGM Tour chairman Tun Ahmad Sarji said they were pleased with how the 2018 campaign went and hoped for similar success this year.
This year the Tour has prize money a little more than RM3.5mil. Almost RM2mil of that has been granted for the nine events co-sanctioned with the Asian Development Tour (ADT).
These tournaments feature fields that draw players from a wide cross-section of the globe, including the United States, Europe, South Africa, South America and from across Asia.
The incentive is that it also carries world ranking points, which add to the competitiveness of the fields.
The six Closed Championship tournaments for the men are worth RM1.2mil and the ladies’ equivalent is RM350,000.
Among the other events, the PGM Seniors Championship remains on the calendar and has prize money of RM185.000.