The cream of the Asian Development Tour (ADT) will lock horns with Malaysia’s top golfers in the 11th edition of the PKNS Selangor Masters, which tees off on June 19-22 at Kelab Golf Seri Selangor.
Jointly sanctioned by the ADT and the domestic Toyota Tour, the PKNS Selangor Masters is promoted by PKNS Golf Management Services which is a subsidiary of the Selangor State Development Corporation (PKNS). PKNS has been the title sponsor of the event since 2022.
With a handsome prize fund of US$175,000, the PKNS Selangor Masters will have a significant impact on the ADT’s Order of Merit, where the top 10 players at the end of the season will earn coveted Asian Tour cards for 2025.
2023 champion Ho Yu-cheng of Chinese Taipei
“With such a strong and talented field, I am sure that golf fans will be in for some scintillating action as the top golfers from across the region face off against Malaysia’s best players. We have also allocated spots for promising amateurs and juniors, including the winner of the Selangor International Junior Golf Championship, and I hope they learn as much as they can from competing with professional golfers in a tour event,” said Dato’ Haji Haris Bin Kasim, the Secretary of the Selangor State Government.
Last week’s Selangor International Junior Golf Championship, also played at Seri Selangor, was won by 16-year-old Shiyun Jin of China. “I’m really looking forward to playing in the PKNS Selangor Masters as I’ll be going up against the professionals,” said Jin.
2023 champion Ho Yu-cheng of Chinese Taipei will be back to defend the title he narrowly won last year, when he finished with an even-par 280 total for a one-shot victory over Australia’s Deyen Lawson and Thailand’s Runchanapong Youprayong. Both Lawson and Runchanapong are in the field as well.
Ho is looking forward to returning to Seri Selangor, which he names as one of his favourite courses. “It’s great to be going back to Seri Selangor and Malaysia. I can’t wait to play the golf course again, and hopefully I can achieve a good result this year.” said the 26-year-old.
Current ADT Order of Merit leader Ahmad Baig of Pakistan will be carrying great form into the week as he attempts to win for the third time in 2024. The 25-year-old has triumphed twice in Vietnam this season, at the season-opening Lexus Challenge and the recent Nam A Bank Vietnam Masters.
Filipino stalwart Angelo Que, who won the Selangor Masters in 2010 when it was an Asian Tour event, is also in the field.
Among the top local contenders is Ervin Chang, who finished joint eighth last year to pocket the RM10,000 bonus as leading Malaysian. The bonus is being offered again this year to incentivise the local players.
Both Ho (3rd place) and Chang (10th place) finished in the top 10 on the final 2023 ADT Order of Merit, thereby earning playing rights on this year’s lucrative Asian Tour.
The field of 144 players features the leading 77 available players from the ADT and 40 from the domestic Toyota Tour, with the remaining 27 spots allocated for tournament invitations.
“The PKNS Selangor Masters is definitely one of the most popular stops on the ADT. With its lucrative prize fund, the tournament is a significant stepping stone for the stars of tomorrow as they seek to further their careers. Our players enjoy testing their skills on the Seri Selangor course, which is one of the most challenging on the ADT schedule, and the fabulous Malaysian hospitality accorded to them during the week,” said Ken Kudo, the General Manager of the ADT.
“We would like to thank our esteemed title sponsor, PKNS, the Selangor State Government and Seri Selangor for their support, and for sharing our vision to grow golf in the region,” he added.
Since the tournament’s inception in 2007, the Selangor Masters has seen two local winners with Ben Leong triumphing in the second edition and Shahriffuddin Ariffin emerging victorious in 2022, both times at Seri Selangor. Coming off an impressive joint runner-up finish at the Nam A Bank Vietnam Masters, Shahriffuddin will be in confident mood as he seeks a second win in the event.
Other Malaysians to look out for include Galven Green, who has won twice locally already this year to take his Toyota Tour title tally to three, and Paul San who has triumphed once on the local circuit in 2024. Green was joint fourth at the Nam A Bank Vietnam Masters while San finished T19. Asian Tour winners Danny Chia and Nicholas Fung are also in the field.
Local attention will also focus on newly minted professionals Marcus Lim and Khavish Varadan. Lim won on the Toyota Tour as an amateur in 2023, while Khavish finished as best Malaysian in T13 place at the Asian Tour’s IRS Prime Malaysian Open earlier this year after holding the joint halfway lead.
There will be a total of 59 Malaysians in the mix at Seri Selangor, including seven amateurs in Nateeshvar Anatha Ganesh, Rizq Adam Rohizam, Zia Iqmal Abdul Rashid, Muhammad Danial, Lam Kong Foo, Putra Huzaireil Khan and Roslan Piei.
The challenging Seri Selangor course will once again play as a par-70 layout, with the par-five fifth and the par-five 18th holes converted to long par-fours for the tournament. Crafted by Australian architect Ross Watson, the popular public course opened for play in 1998 and has received much acclaim for its strategic design and speedy greens.
