Defending champion Snyder missing from PGM MNRB Sarawak Championship

KUCHING: Defending champion Blake Snyder of the US is not competing in this year’s PGM MNRB Sarawak gol f championship which is currently being played at Damai Golf and Country Club ( DGCC) from yesterday.

Thi s was con f i r med by DGCC general manager Roslan Mohd Salleh who said that the professional golfer had to pull out of the event due to clash of dates with another tournament.

“After winning last year’s event, Snyder had told me that he is coming again because of our Arnold Palmer designed golf course but unfortunately he had to compete elsewhere,” Roslan said.

According to him, this year’s event still received encouraging response and attracted golfers from USA, Australia, France, Japan, Finland, Fiji, Sweden, South Korea, South Africa, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Singapore, Indonesia and Thailand.

There are 25 participants from Malaysia and among them are local pro Sufian Kepli from Miri and Mohd Lokman Mustaf fa from Kuching who are competing alongside regulars such as Airil Rizman Zahari, Sukree Othman, Arie Irawan, Rizal Amin.

The total prize money up for grabs is RM225,000 with a total of 94 professional golfers and two amateurs are also competing in the PGM- sanctioned event sponsored by MNRB Holdings Berhad.

The event is held at DGCC for the second consecutive year and is one of the two legs in Sarawak.

Meanwhile, Sharifuddin Ariffin took the lead in the opening day with an impressive eight under par 64 while Tarik Can from the US is trailing by two strokes.

Among those who are also in contention for the top spots are locals Amir Nazrin and Airil Rizman who both scored a five under 67 together with American, Justin De Los Santos.

However, it was Suengjae Maeng who stole the limelight yesterday after the American hit a hole-inone at Hole 5, covering a distance of 204 yards using a 4 iron golf club.

The overall champion wi l l walk home with the top prize of RM39,375, which is approximately RM4,000 more than last year.