Six golden tickets were handed out during today’s PGM Maybank ADT Championship to some of the region’s leading golfers, who received starts in the 2020 Maybank Championship.
This year marked the first time that the PGM Maybank ADT Championship, co-sanctioned by the Professional Golf of Malaysia (PGM) Tour and the Asian Development Tour (ADT), served as the qualifying event for the ASEAN category for the lucrative Maybank Championship. The deserving players were the winner of the tournament, Thailand’s Nirun Sae-Ueng, as well as the top five ASEAN players – Atiruj Winaicharoenchai and Suttijet Kooratanapisan, also from Thailand, Singapore’s Choo Tze Huang and Quincy Quek, and Indonesia’s George Gandranata.
With a US$3 million purse, the Maybank Championship is now the biggest and most lucrative golf tournament in ASEAN, whose past winners include Australians Marcus Fraser (2016) and Scott Hend (2019), Paraguay’s Fabrizio Zanotti (2017) and Asian Tour Order of Merit champion Shubhankar Sharma (2018).
The ASEAN category, introduced in 2017 as part of Maybank’s initiatives and efforts to elevate regional talent, provides a platform for the players to take their game to a new level whilst giving them a chance to pit their skills against some of the world’s best.
“We want to make the ASEAN dream a reality, both on and off the fairways,” said Datuk Abdul Farid Alias, group president and CEO of Maybank. “By reserving spots for the five ASEAN players at the upcoming Maybank Championship, we not only recognise deserving talent, but also encourage a thriving and competitive ASEAN golfing landscape that will grow into a global stage. Together with support from the tours, we hope to nurture a league of champions for this generation and those to come.”
“We also want to recognize the winner of the PGM Maybank ADT Championship and provide him the platform to accelerate to the next level in his career,” he added.
Asian Tour commissioner and CEO Cho Minn Thant applauded Maybank’s continued support of golf in the region.
“I would like to thank Maybank for their unwavering support in growing the game of golf in the region – not only this season, but over the years,” he said. “The ADT itself has proven to be a great platform for budding golfers to hone their skills and work their way onto the Asian Tour proper, and now the Maybank Championship which is co-sanctioned with the European Tour.
“The PGM Maybank ADT Championship is a great occasion for ASEAN players and all the other ADT hopefuls to try and compete in the Maybank Championship, which is one of the most celebrated events on the Asian Tour,” added Cho.
