KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 16 (Bernama) -- Maybank Championship announced today the top 15 professionals as well as amateur Malaysian golfers who will be taking part at the third instalment of the tournament this 1- 4 February 2018 at Saujana Golf and Country Club (SGCC). Top names include reigning Asian Tour number one Gavin Green, Danny Chia, Shahriffuddin Ariffin and R. Nachimuthu.

Endorsed by the Sports Commissioner of Malaysia and supported by professional golfing bodies across the region, Maybank Championship will once again provide a significant platform for players looking to gain valuable experience and Official World Golf Ranking points. The tournament which is also co-sanctioned by the European Tour and Asian Tour, will see an international cast of 156 golfers, including current World No. 9, Henrik Stenson, compete for the total prize purse of USD3 million.

“It is indeed exciting for us to announce the best selection of Malaysian golfers who will be representing our country in the upcoming Maybank Championship 2018. These players have trained vigorously and played extremely well throughout the past year to make it to this year’s list and we are thrilled to see them in action come this February. Our very own Gavin Green, the first Malaysian to win the Asian Tour Order of Merit, whom we have recently extended our multi-year sponsorship as Maybank’s ASEAN Ambassador, will be part of the exciting line-up as well. Aside from Green, renowned golfers from Malaysia such as Nicholas Fung, Ben Leong and Danny Chia who qualified through their own merit through the Asian Tour will also be taking part in the action,” said Datuk Abdul Farid Alias, Group President and CEO of Maybank.

Staying true to the tournament’s aspirations of ensuring the best mix of international and regional golfers, Maybank Championship 2018 will showcase a formidable line-up of talents in a Malaysian tournament. Four of the spots were awarded to Malaysian professionals who qualified on their own merit through the Asian Tour and 10 spots to local golfers who qualified through PGM Tour’s Order of Merit. Other notable names include Arie Irawan, Khor Kheng Hwai, Amir Nazrin and M. Sasidaran, amongst others.

As the only full field event in Malaysia with over 30 nationalities coming together, Maybank Championship will feature top 67 players from both the European Tour and Asian Tour respectively. Additionally, 10 spots are awarded to Malaysians, five to ASEAN professionals that will be appropriately qualified taking into account their Asian Tour Order of Merit, Asian Development Tour Order of Merit, World Ranking and local tour Order of Merit in their respective countries (where available), another five are given out as Special Invites, while two more spots are reserved for amateurs, one to the top ranked Malaysian Amateur, which was awarded to Galven Green and the other to Lin Yuxin, winner of the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship.

Datuk Abdul Farid Alias added, “The Maybank Championship is an excellent platform for Malaysian golfers to test their skills alongside leading players from both the European Tour and Asian Tour. It provides them with the motivation to further hone their skills in order to perfect their game as they continue to pave the way for Malaysia to be known as a home to some of Asia’s most prolific golfers.”

The full list of Malaysian Players competing at the Maybank Championship 2018 is as follows: