After three wins in his last four Toyota Tour tournaments in Malaysia, Galven Green has emerged as the leading professional and is now firmly atop the Toyota Tour Order of Merit. The 25-year-old Green recorded his first professional win in last year’s Alphard Cup at Kota Seriemas GC, then followed this up with the 2024 Toyota Tour season-opener Tun Ahmad Sarji Trophy at Saujana GCC. Last month he won the Corolla Cross Cup at Glenmarie GCC after a close play-off with veteran Nicholas Fung.
Green is looking forward to contending at the Vios Cup which tees-off at the scenic and challenging Templer Park Country Club this coming Tuesday until Thursday. Expect good scores from previous winners and contenders in Fung, Danny Chia, Ervin Chang, Daeng Rahman, Paul San, Zia Izzuddeen, Amir Nazrin, Syahiran Syakir, Shariffuddin Ariffin and Shukri Othman.
Q: After three victories on the Toyota Tour, you must be quite confident going into next week’s Vios Cup at Templer Park.
GG: Every tournament is a new tournament, every week is a new week. I’m making some tweaks to my swing with my coach, so let’s see how it goes.
Q:Your victory in the Tun Ahmad Sarji was by a very comfortable 7-stroke margin. Were you expecting that knowing there was quite a strong field?
GG: Well, things just clicked for me that day and it was good.
Q: Your first and third victories came via play-offs. Do you enjoy matchplay formats?
GG: I’m ok with matchplay though we don’t get to play it much. I did it more when I was at uni.
Q: How familiar are you with the Templer Park layout? Have you done well at Templer Park before?
GG: I have played at Templer Park a few times before, but mainly during tournaments.
Q: How would you describe this course? Long? Medium? Do you think the key to performing well is on and around the tricky greens? Or are the tee shots and approaches more crucial?
GG: It’s of average length with a good mix of long and short holes. Some tricky holes and I think management is quite important here.
Q: After two tournaments on the Toyota Tour you lead in the Order of Merit. Would finishing No 1 at the end of the season be one of your goals?
GG: It’s very early in the season and if that happens, I’ll be very happy. However, I think that consistency is key and that is what I am striving to achieve.
Q: One of your main objectives is to do well on the ADT circuit and try and get your Asian Tour card. How has it been so far and what has been affecting your journey?
GG: It’s quite early in the season and I’ll play whichever tournament I can get into but sometimes, entry like this week at Laguna, for example, is rather difficult despite me having my ADT card.
Q: Who would you pick as being the main contenders at Templer Park?
GG: Everyone in the field! We all want to go out there and play the best that we can.
Q: How would you seize up the state of professional golf in Malaysia?
GG: It has definitely gotten more vibrant with the Toyota sponsorship, nice to see the boards and the music and the build up in terms of advertising and awareness. However, it would be nice for the purse to be increased as well, as this will help both players and caddies.
Q: Can you comment on the Toyota Tour?
GG: Definitely very thankful for Toyota’s support. I think things are professionally run, and I can see improvements along the way.
