European Tour legends Thomas Bjørn and Miguel Ángel Jiménez have confirmed their participation in this year’s Maybank Championship, which takes place at Saujana Golf & Country Club on March 21-24.
The duo’s entry also comes alongside Maybank’s announcement of a five-strong ASEAN line-up joining the US$3 million Asian Tour and European Tour co-sanctioned event – Myanmar’s Ye Htet Aung, Danny Masrin of Indonesia, Singaporean Johnson Poh, and the Philippine duo of Angelo Que and Juvic Pagunsan. These players are appropriately qualified based on their overall ranking on the Asian Tour, Asian Development Tour and Official World Golf Ranking.
Bjørn and Jiménez add star power to the field, joining multiple Major winners Ernie Els of South Africa and 2020 European Ryder Cup captain Padraig Harrington who were announced earlier.
A 15-time winner on the European Tour, Bjørn preceded Harrington as Ryder Cup captain having led the Europeans to a famous triumph over Team USA in the 2018 match in France last September.
Miguel Ángel Jiménez
The enigmatic and popular Jiménez, with 21 European Tour titles to his credit, will add colour to the event with his larger-than-life personality.
Maybank Group President and CEO, Datuk Abdul Farid Alias said: “The inclusion of Thomas Bjørn and Miguel Angel Jiménez is exciting news for golfing fans and will certainly add to the stiff competition expected this year. So too is the ASEAN category, which we see as an extension of our commitment to support the growth of local talent in the region.
“We hope the opportunity provided to the five ASEAN players in particular will enable them to lift their game further, and inspire even more young talents in the region to aim to be among the world’s best. We wish them and the rest of the field all the very best in the tournament,” he added.
Defending champion and reigning Asian Tour Order of Merit champion, Shubhankar Sharma of India, top-ranked Malaysian Gavin Green, Japan’s Ryo Ishikawa, and Thailand’s Poom Saksansin are among the other names who have confirmed their participation to-date
For more information log onto www.maybankchampionship.com.my
