Kuala Lumpur: The top-10 players from the Asian Development Tour (ADT) Order of Merit will headline the PGM UMW Templer Park Masters next week, making it one of the strongest fields of the season.

James Bowen of the United States, Grant Jackson of England and Mitsuhiko Hashizume of Japan, the top-three players on the Order of Merit, will be aiming to secure their second ADT title of the season at the RM200,000 (approximately US$65,000) event.

Lindsay Renolds of Canada, who lost in a playoff to Hashizume in Langkawi in April, highly rated Nicholas Fung of Malaysia and Scotland’s James Byrne will also feature at the Templer Park Country Club from June 26 to 29 (Wednesday to Saturday).

Newcomers Malcolm Kokocinski of Sweden and Wolmer Murillo of Venezuela are among the talented players in the field which includes Thailand’s Wasin Sripattranusorn and Singapore’s Quincy Quek.

R. Nachimuthu, Danny Chia, winner of the PGM Northport Glenmarie Masters in Kuala Lumpur, Sukree Othman and Kenneth De Silva will spearhead the Malaysian challenge next week.

Jackson, winner of the PGM Maybank Johor Masters in April, will be on the mission to overtake Bowen from the perch of the Order of Merit where less than US$600 separates the leading two players.

“This is the only reason why I’m playing on the ADT because I want to try to finish inside the top-three of the Order of Merit and get my Asian Tour card,” said Jackson.

The PGM UMW Templer Park Masters is the sixth stop on the ADT season this year. The top three players on the Order of Merit at the end of the season earn Asian Tour cards for the following year.

All ADT events in 2013 will also afford Official World Golf Ranking points, which will help players qualify for the World Cup of Golf in November and the 2016 Olympics in Rio De Janeiro.