Focus shifts to Kinrara
Players eye Match Play Championship as PGM Tour resumes next week
THE Professional Golf of Malaysia (PGM) Tour resumes next week after the mid-season break with the Match Play Championship at Kinrara Golf Club and fireworks are expected from the get-go.
The RM200,000 tournament that starts on June 25 and runs through July 1, is a knockout event and that is where the excitement will be drawn from. It’s a matter of win or pack your bags and go home.
A number of players said in the build-up to Kinrara that they were looking forward to returning to action and hoping to do well.
Among the leading candidates for the title will be Sukree Othman. A two-time champion on Tour this season and a player with eight PGM crowns to his credit, Sukree will be the one to beat at Kinrara.
Speaking ahead of Hari Raya, Sukree said he continued to practice throughout Ramadan, although his routine was tweaked somewhat.
“I didn’t stop training, although my routine was changed a little and mostly to do with the timing – when I went to practice,” he explained.
A winner of the Perlis Closed Championship in January and the Sime Darby Closed Championship in April, Sukree added: “The Match Play Championship is an interesting tournament because it pits you against your opponent whom you have to beat on the day, or otherwise you head home. It is unlike the Stroke Play tournaments where you could recover from a poor or slow start.
“It’s a different event to the usual schedule, but it’s also one that you can enjoy and I’m looking forward to Kinrara.”
Turning to the Hari Raya holidays, Sukree said he’d be spending time with his family back in Ipoh and looked forward to that too.
Sukree leads the PGM Tour’s Order of Merit by more than RM41,000,R having accrued just over RM88,000R in the first half of the season.
Wafiyuddin Abdul Manaf is another player who is eyeing a goodg showing at Kinrara and hash been busy preparing to make an impact.
“I’ve been working out and I am also looking forward to the challenge at the Match Play Championship.
“I haven’t won yet on Tour, but I feelf that if I continue to work hard and focus on the right things it will come,” said Wafiyuddin, who has hadh two top-5s in this campaign. ThoseT were a third-place finish at thet Port Dickson Closed Championship in March and a fourthf place at the Sime Darby Championship. He has had seven starts in the campaign so far.
“I’ve working on being more aggressive, but with some caution,” said Wafiyuddin. “This is mainly becauseb of the format of the Match PlayP Championship.
“One has to go for the pin, in certain circumstances, or else you could find yourself behind.
“But, we’ll see how it goes when thet time comes,” said Wafiyuddin, whow added that he would be spending the Raya holidays with his familyf in Penang.
Wafiyuddin, fifth on the Order of Merit with just under RM40,000, said he was also looking forward to the Asian Tour’s Sarawak Championship at Damai
Golf & Country Club early next month.
“To do well at an Asian Tour event like Sarawak is also part of my goals set out for the second half of the season,” he said. “And hopefully I can get a few other country exemptions that would allow me to play the Asian Tour.”
Arie Irawan, seventh on the standings with RM32,000 from four starts, will also go to Kinrara with some momentum. He finished in a tie for fourth in the Guilin Championship at Guilin Landscape Golf Club in Guangxi last weekend.
“I played reasonably well in China and it’s given me some confidence,” he said. “With this, I’m also looking forward to going to Kinrara.
“I know the format is different but all the players are faced with the same challenge, so it’s really a matter of how well you play on the day.”