Malaysia’s LPGA star Kelly Tan shared valuable insights from her decade-long professional career and key short game tips with some of the country’s most promising juniors during a clinic organised by the Malaysian Ladies Golf Association (MALGA) in conjunction with the Maybank Championship.
Held at the short game area of Kuala Lumpur Golf & Country Club (KLGCC) on the morning of August 5, the clinic was attended by 14 young talents including 2023 Southeast Asian Games gold medallist Ng Jing Xuen.
“I think it was an important session for me and the girls. Being on tour most of the time, I feel like I haven’t been able to connect with the next generation of golfers in Malaysia, so it was great to meet them and share my story,” said Tan.
“It was also good that they got to know me personally and feel that they can always reach out to me and ask any questions. I didn’t have a role model when I was their age,” added the 29-year-old.
Tan was impressed by what she saw from the juniors. “They are very talented! It’s good to see so many girls getting into golf and to see their success at such a young age.”
Ng was thrilled at being able to spend time with Tan. “It was really good getting a chance to talk to Kelly. I learnt a lot today, especially about going to LPGA Q-School, which I plan to do in the next three years,” said the 15-year-old.
Ng recently claimed the Malaysian Ladies Amateur Open title to emulate Tan, who won the prestigious event three times during her amateur days.
Tan paid tribute to MALGA for the support accorded to her while she was a junior, stressing that it was crucial to her development as an elite player.
“MALGA discovered me at a SportExcel junior tournament when I was 14 and recruited me for national team training. From there, they provided a development program which definitely helped propel me to become a good amateur player. I wouldn’t be where I am today without them,” shared Tan, who is currently in 76th spot on the LPGA Tour’s season-long Race to the CME Globe standings.
In Tan’s last LPGA start late last month, she teamed up with her best friend Matilda Castren in the Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational and came close to a breakthrough win. With a total of 22-under-par 258, the Malaysian-Finnish pairing chalked up their second successive runner-up finish in the USD2.7 million team event, just one shot behind winners Cheyenne Knight and Elizabeth Szokol of the United States.
Tan’s next tournament is the ISPS Handa World Invitational at Galgorm Castle Golf Club and Castlerock Golf Club in Antrim, Northern Ireland, from August 17-20. She will then head to Canada for the CPKC Women’s Open in Vancouver (August 24-27), followed by two events in the United States – the Portland Classic and the Kroger Queen City Championship.
Over the course of her professional career, Tan has set numerous benchmarks for Malaysian golf including best performance in a Major with her 13th place finish at the 2020 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship. In 2020, she finished a career-high 37th in the Race to the CME Globe.
In April this year, Tan was appointed as the ASEAN ambassador for Maybank, Malaysia’s largest financial services and banking group. She will be part of the field when the LPGA Tour returns to Malaysia this October 26-29 with the US$3 million Maybank Championship at KLGCC.
