Nicholas eyes higher targets after fine show at Maybank C’ship.
Nicholas eyes WGC stage after creditable show at Maybank C’ship
PETALING JAYA: It’s amazing how one good week in a tournament can do wonders for a professional golfer’s confidence.
Just look at Nicholas Fung - he has set himself bigger ambitions after finishing a creditable tied 15th at the just-concluded Maybank Championship at the Saujana Golf and Country Club on Sunday.
The 28-year-old now wants to make his first appearance in the World Golf Championship (WGC) at the lucrative WGC-HSBC Champions in Shanghai from Oct 31-Nov 3.
The prestigious WGC series feature four events annually. The other three are the WGC-Mexico Championship, WGC-Dell Match Play (United States) and WGCBridgestone Invitational (US).
It’s certainly something within Nicholas’ reach after he moved up from 34th spot to eighth in the latest Asian Tour Order of Merit, thanks to his handsome sum of US$40,560 (RM165,000) earned from last week’s sizzling showing.
He has collected US$51,160 (RM208,000) from four starts this season.
Only the leading four golfers from the Asian Tour money list in mid-October will make the 78-man invitational meet, which offers an eye-watering prize fund of US$11mil (RM44.78mil).
The tournament guarantees big payouts to every single player as it is a no-cut off event.
Danny Chia and Gavin Kyle Green have played in the event before.
“It’s definitely no easy task, you
have to play really well week in, week out in order to get into the top four,” said Nicholas.
“But I’m now in eighth spot, and the goal is to keep improving. I’ll try my best to qualify because playing in a WGC event is definitely in my bucket list. The WGC boast one of the strongest fields in professional golf besides the major championships.”
Nicholas has a chance to climb up further on the money list when he tees up at the Indian Open, which begins in New Delhi on Thursday.
The one-time Asian Tour winner will look to build on his decent record in the US$1.75mil (RM7.12mil) event as he has never missed the cut at the DLF Golf and Country Club.
Nicholas finished tied 27th for his best outing in 2016.
He will be joined by Gavin, who continues his quest to win his European Tour title after failing in last week’s home event, finishing joint 30th.
Gavin is set to give the Indian Open title another shot after coming close to finish second in 2017. He was tied 16th last year.