Kuala Lumpur: Josh Salah believes he can emulate the success of reigning Order of Merit winner Casey O’Toole when he challenges for a second straight win at the PGM UMW Championship which gets underway on Wednesday.
After winning his first Asian Development Tour (ADT) title in Malaysia last week, the in-form Salah hopes to continue the momentum at the Templer Park Country Club.
He will feature in the RM200,000 (approximately US$46,600) ADT event alongside Poom Saksansin of Thailand, Janne Kaske of Finland, James Byrne of Scotland and Filipino Rufino Bayron, who are all champions on the fledging Tour.
Newly turned professional Low Khai Jei will make up the strong local cast who include Shaaban Hussin, Airil Rizman, R. Nachimuthu, Rizal Amin, Kenneth De Silva and Hans Jamil in the fourth stop on the ADT Schedule.
Playing in his second season on the ADT, Salah is brimming with confidence after claiming his first win in Asia at the PGM CCM Rahman Putra Championship. He hopes to follow in the footsteps of O’Toole, who enjoyed a stellar 2015 ADT season.
“The win gives me a lot of confidence and it showed that I belong out here. Casey (O’Toole) was my roommate last year and he sort of took me under his wing. I saw how well he played he gave me that motivation to make the next step,” said Salah.
“He had a very similar first year to what I had but I saw last year he was more comfortable and he knew he was good enough. I saw it in him and this year I hope to be much better and more confident,” he added.
The 24-year-old Salah missed the grade at the Qualifying School last month but he hopes to make amends by earning an Asian Tour card for 2017 through the ADT, which affords the top-five players at the end of the season with playing rights on the region’s premier Tour.
“Last year I struggled a little bit but as the year got on, I felt more comfortable. I played week after week and felt that I was good enough and that I belonged here. I was disappointed with the Qualifying School result but I knew I had what it takes to win out here. I couldn’t have done it without last year’s experience on the ADT,” said Salah.
With the Olympic Games looming this July where golf will be reintroduced as a medal sport, players in the region could earn their spots in Rio de Janeiro by earning Official World Golf Ranking points through the Asian Tour and ADT.
