Reigning Asian Tour No 1 Gavin Green will have experienced Scotsman Mark Crane on his bag in this week’s US$3 million Maybank Championship, which starts on Thursday.
The big-hitting Malaysian will team up for the second week in a row with Crane, who previously caddied for Paul Casey and Chris Wood and has experience in the Majors and Ryder Cup. They worked together for the first time in Dubai last week and will continue their partnership at Saujana Golf & Country Club.
Green’s father Gary, who previously caddied for him, will now be on the bag for his younger brother Galven, who plays collegiate golf in the USA and will arrive in Malaysia early Thursday morning before teeing it up in the first round.
Green started his 2018 season in Malaysia at the EurAsia Cup and flew to Singapore where he enjoyed a top-10 finish. The following week, he travelled to the Omega Dubai Desert Classic where he came in tied-45th.
“The last 12 months have been a huge learning process for me. Patience is obviously a huge thing in golf, I know everybody says it but it is true. If you don’t have patience, there is no way you will reach success.
“This is my fourth week in a row and I’m resting as much as I can. I’m hitting it a little bit better as compared to EurAsia Cup so that’s good. I know this course well. I think everybody will have a tough time on the greens,” said Green, who won three times at Saujana as an amateur.
“My game has tightened up and I have been working really hard with my coaches. I feel I’m mentally and physically prepared. Definitely there’s a chance (to win) but I need to stay patient and handle the pressure of playing in front of the home crowd,” he added.
On working with Crane, Green said: “We are trying to get comfortable with each other and so far, it has been good. It is a different chemistry because I had my dad on the bag previously. He understands that you can’t attack all the holes. You got to play it on the safe side, get your par and get out of there. Somebody of that level telling me that is a different thing. He had an injury and he was out for a while, now he is on my bag.”
