Danny Willett of England and Thai stars Thongchai Jaidee and Kiradech Aphibarnrat will challenge for the inaugural Maybank Championship Malaysia at the Royal Selangor Golf Club (RSGC) next month.
Maybank Championship Malaysia today announced that current World No.19 Danny Willett of England as well as leading Asian players, Thongchai Jaidee and Kiradech Aphibarnrat of Thailand have confirmed participation at the inaugural golf tournament to be held at the Royal Selangor Golf Club (RSGC) from 18th – 21st February 2016.
They will join Louis Oosthuizen of South Africa and Martin Kaymer of Germany in the US$3 million event sanctioned by the Asian Tour and European Tour from February 18 to 21. Their star presence will also ensure that the new event will be headline by five players inside the world’s top-40.
The announcement reinforces the championship’s aspirations of ensuring the best mix of international and regional golfing talents in a Malaysian world-class tournament. In addition to the five players confirmed, the top 67 players from both the European Tour and Asian Tours will qualify for the Maybank Championship Malaysia.
Another ten spots will be awarded to the top-10 players based on the Order of Merit from the Professional Golf Of Malaysia Tour (PGM) while up to five spots will be given to ASEAN Professionals that will be awarded based on the Asian Tour Order Of Merit, Asian Development Tour Order Of Merit and National Professional Golfers Association of ASEAN Countries (where available) and an additional two spots will be given to Malaysian professionals.
On spot will be accorded to the top player on the Middle East North African Tour (MENA). Two spots are reserved for other top players who are not members of European PGA Tour and the Asian Tour. The final two (2) spots will be given to the top two amateurs that qualify – one to the highest ranked Malaysian in the Amateur World Rankings; and one (1) to the Asian Pacific Amateur Masters Champion.
The Maybank Championship Malaysia is co-sanctioned by the European Tour, Asian Tour, the Professional Golf of Malaysia Tour (PGM Tour), and the Professional Golfers Association of Malaysia (PGAM).
One of the richest European Tour and Asian Tour co-sanctioned tournaments in Southeast Asia and a premier event contributing to both the Race to Dubai and the Asian Tour Order of Merit, the championship offers a prize purse of US$ 3 million.
The event will provide a significant platform for Asian players to gain valuable Official World Golf Ranking points and stake a claim for a place at the 2016 Olympics.
