The Malaysian was unanimously voted as October’s winner after he ended his 13-year title drought on the region’s premier Tour by winning the Mercuries Taiwan Masters and followed that victory up with a top-10 finish at the Yeangder TPC in Chinese Taipei the following week.
Chia went on to earn a spot at the prestigious CIMB Classic and was also the first Malaysian to feature at a World Golf Championship event at the WGC-HSBC Champions in Shanghai earlier this month.
“This award means a lot to me as it just shows how much my hard work and dedication has paid off.
“I know this award will spur me to do better and I’m looking forward to ending the year on a high note,” said the 42-year-old, who was almost forced out of the game by a career-threatening shoulder injury.
As part of Hilton Worldwide’s (NYSE: HLT) newest partnership with the region’s premier Tour, the Asian Tour Hilton Golfer of the Month award aims to recognise outstanding efforts of Asian Tour members both at home and abroad.
The online voting contest on www.asiantour.hiltongolf.com to determine the monthly winner, engages golf fans as they vote for their favourite golfer through the Asian Tour’s media channels, culminating with fans voting for the Asian Tour Hilton Golfer of the Year at the end of 2015.
Besides casting their vote for their favourite player on the Asian Tour, fans, who log onto www.asiantour.hiltongolf.com also stand a chance to win a one night stay at any Hilton property of the choice.
Chia won the award ahead of Australia’s Scott Hend and Chinese Taipei’s Lu Wei-chih where the three players were nominated by a selection panel before going into a public voting process.
Hend was recognised for his win at the Venetian Macao Open, his current standing of second on the Order of Merit and his impressive fourth place finish at the Porsche European Open.
Lu’s recent performance at the Hong Kong Open was a sporting inspiration to many with his amazing story of adversity and determination to get back into top-flight golf after battling a brain tumour.
