Petaling Jaya, Selangor: Highly rated Malaysian amateurs Gavin and Galven Green will be among the star studded Asian Tour cast at the Worldwide Holdings Selangor Masters next week.
The RM1.2 million (approximately US$400,000) Asian Tour event will provide a good test of character for the Green brothers who will be in the elite field alongside defending champion Thaworn Wiratchant of Thailand and big-hitting Scott Hend of Australia, who is currently third on the Order of Merit.
Over 30 Asian Tour champions who include Indian rising star Anirban Lahiri, Angelo Que of the Philippines, who won the 2010 edition, Chawalit Plaphol of Thailand, Mardan Mamat of Singapore and Siddikur of Bangladesh will feature at the Seri Selangor Golf Club from June 20 to 23.
Danny Chia, Shaaban Hussin, Sukree Othman, S. Siva Chandhran and Nicholas Fung will spearhead the Malaysian charge as they aim to emulate Ben Leong’s victory in 2008. Leong, who was hoping to make a long-awaited comeback from a back injury, has pulled out from the event because of illness.
The 19-year-old Gavin will arrive home in Malaysia following a successful college season in the United States. He was part of the University of New Mexico golf team who won the Regionals at Ohio to qualify for the NCAA Golf Championship where they made it to the top eight.
He also played at the U.S. Open Sectional Qualifying at Hawks Ridge Golf Club but missed out on a spot in the year’s second Major tournament by two shots.
“It has been awesome. This season has been one of our (golf team at the University of New Mexico) best ever. All in all, it was a great season and the experience was just out of this world,” said Gavin.
He reckons he needs to put in some additional work on his golf swing to ensure he rises up to the challenge at the Worldwide Holdings Selangor Masters, which will be the 13th leg of the Asian Tour’s 2013 season. The Asian Tour is celebrating its 10th season this year as a players’ body.
“I have been playing a lot and haven’t been working enough on my swing. I’ll take the next few days to work on it with my swing coach, Tony Maloney. There is always room for improvement. There are some little tweaks here and there and hopefully it will all come together next week,” he said.
“I’d like to just go out there and do the best that I can. Hopefully this will allow me to make the cut and finish in a nice position.”
The 2012 Malaysian Amateur Open champion has earned his stripes against the pros when he finished tied 18th and 22nd at the 2012 Iskandar Johor Open in December and Maybank Malaysian Open in April respectively.
He was paired with Major champion Ernie Els and Sergio Garcia in the first two rounds in Johor and enjoyed the company of Matteo Manassero in the opening two days of the Maybank Malaysian Open.
“Both tournaments were really hurricane tournaments for me. One morning I was at the Las Angeles airport and the next, I’m rushing to the course for a practice round in this part of the world.
“I’ve learnt that it is necessary to adapt and to adapt fast. Plus, playing with such big names like Sergio, Ernie and Matteo was fun. Their iron shots are super sharp and that is what I need to keep working on,” said Gavin.
His younger brother Galven is also relishing the opportunity to tee it up in his first Asian Tour event after winning the under-15 category of the Etiqa Selangor International Junior Masters to qualify for the tournament.
“This is my very first professional tournament and I’m very excited to play. I’m just happy to have qualified. I would like to play with probably Iain Steel, Rick Kulacz or Himmat Rai. It would be nice if I can make the cut,” said the 13-year-old Galven, who will be amongst the youngest golfers to play on the Asian Tour.
If he succeeds in making the halfway cut, Galven will become the youngest player to do so on the Asian Tour.
Worldwide Holdings, a 100 per cent subsidiary of PKNS – the development arm of the state of Selangor – will title sponsor the Selangor Masters for the sixth successive year. The state-linked company has an impressive portfolio of businesses which include property development and investment, environmental management services and investment holding in Selangor.
The weekend rounds of the tournament will be telecast live on the Asian Tour’s global platform which reaches over 200 countries and 650 million homes.
