Amarin Kraivixien of Thailand
The 2025 PKNS Selangor Masters got off to an exciting start with three players sharing the first round clubhouse lead at Seri Selangor Golf Club.
Malaysia’s Zia Izzuddeen, Japanese amateur Daichi Hayashi and Thailand’s Amarin Kraivixien carded matching four-under-par 67s on the par-71 layout to take joint pole position. Two golfers had yet to finish their rounds when fading light halted play at 7.35pm.
Offering a handsome total purse of US$200,000, this year’s 12th edition is the season-opener of the Asian Development Tour (ADT) and is a co-sanctioned event with the domestic Professional Golf of Malaysia (PGM) Tour. The field of 144 players is made up of 80 from the ADT, 40 from the PGM, and 24 tournament invitations.
Making the best start among the 55 Malaysians in the field was Seri Selangor ambassador Zia. Starting on the 10th tee in the afternoon session, he cancelled out three birdies with three bogeys for an even-par first nine, but caught fire over his last nine holes with four birdies.
“All three bogeys on my first nine were three-putts, but I managed to come back strongly on my last nine holes. This my third time playing in the PKNS Selangor Masters; in 2023 I made the cut but did not finish well, while last year I missed the cut,” said Zia, 26.
“I’m really happy as this is my best score in a tournament at Seri Selangor, which is always tough to play. The gameplan tomorrow is to keep the ball on the fairways and hit the greens, and try to make the putts,” added the golfer from Kuala Terengganu.
14-year-old Hayashi meanwhile showed great poise that belied his tender years, negotiating the tough Seri Selangor layout with six birdies against a double bogey. Having missed the cut in the last three editions, the Malaysia-based youngster is focused on making it an outing to remember.
“I had a good round today, except on one hole, so I’m pretty happy. My irons were quite sharp, and my putting was okay. On the par-three third hole, I pushed my tee shot into the water and had a double bogey, but I was able to get over it really quickly,” said Hayashi.
Hayashi played in last week’s Selangor International Junior Golf Championship at Seri Selangor, finishing 10th in the boys’ individual standings.
Amateur golfer Daichi Hayashi of Japan
“The course is much longer, and the greens are faster than last week. My dad is caddying for me this week and he helped me a lot,” noted Hayashi, who trains with the PKNS Golf Academy.
Chasing his first win on the ADT, Kraivixien credited his strong start to the hard work he put in during the off-season.
“I can see the improvement today as I hit a lot of good iron shots and only had one bad hole on 10; made a double bogey there. I’m very pleased with how I finished with birdies on 15, 17 and 18, which are all very tough holes. I love this golf course; it’s really hard but it’s fair and tests every aspect of your game,” said Kraivixien, who finished joint fifth in the 2023 edition and joint 40th last year.
Seven golfers were tied in fourth place with rounds of three-under-par 68, including Thailand’s Natipong Srithong who won the 2015 Resorts World Manila Masters on the Asian Tour.
Experienced Malaysian professional Leunkwang Kim scored a hole-in-one at the par-three 12th hole, en route to an opening two-under-par 69. He lies in joint 11th position with a large cluster of golfers, including four fellow Malaysians – 2022 PKNS Selangor Masters champion Shahriffuddin Ariffin, Seri Selangor ambassador Amir Nazrin, and amateur talents Aiden Kei and Hariz Hezri.
Last week’s Selangor International Junior Golf Championship boys’ individual champion, Jung Jiwon, carded a solid one-under-par 70.
The PKNS Selangor Masters is promoted by PKNS Golf Management Services, which is a subsidiary of the Selangor State Development Corporation (PKNS), who have been the title sponsor since 2022. The leading Malaysian professional this week will pocket a RM10,000 bonus on top of the regular prize money, an added incentive that was introduced in 2023.
The Selangor Masters was first staged in 2007 as a local event before joining the Asian Tour the following year, when Malaysia’s Ben Leong emerged triumphant. It was played on the Asian Tour until 2014, before returning as an Asian Development Tour event in 2022 when Shahriffuddin became the second Malaysian to claim the title. Seri Selangor has been the venue on each occasion, except in 2011 and 2012 when the tournament was played at Kota Permai Golf & Country Club.
