Golf: Malaysian is youngest player to compete in Asian Tour

By RIZAL ABDULLAH

JOHOR BARU: It's another feather in the cap for Malaysian golfer Gavin Kyle Green (pic) when he becomes the youngest-ever player to compete in the Asian Tour – in the US$300,000 Iskandar Johor Open, to be played at the Royal Johor Country Club (RJCC) from Aug 23-26.

The Open has attracted a strong field and it includes four in the top-10 of the Asian Tour’s UBS Order of Merit.

The 13-year-old Gavin, who finished joint second in the Under-14 division in the World Junior Golf Championships in San Diego last month, will compete as an amateur and he was introduced to the media at a press conference yesterday.

Also competing in the amateur category is 21-year-old Edmund Jonathan Au, who won the Indonesian Amateur Open last week. A week earlier, Edmund won the Pahang Open and it was his first-ever title.

For Gavin, who comes from a golfing family, everything is falling nicely in his career in the sport and he hopes to turn professional in five to six years' time. His younger brother, Galven Kendall, won the boys' Under-8 category in the World Junior Championships in San Diego last year.

“I am honoured to play in the Asian Tour, more so when I am the youngest-ever golfer to play in a tournament on the Tour. I hope to pick up the finer points of the game from the professionals. I will give my best against the professionals and it will be a good experience for me,” said Gavin.

Airil Rizman Zahari, winner of the season-opening Pakistan Open in January, will spearhead the local challenge at the RJCC.

Among the other top names vying for the US$47,550 winner’s purse include former Asian Tour number one Thaworn Wiratchant of Thailand, Mardan Mamat of Singapore, former US Tour regular Scott Hend of Australia and talented Thais Chinarat Phadungsil and Prom Meesawat.

The Johor Golf Association (JGA) president, Tunku Abdul Majid Idris Sultan Iskandar, said: “We are delighted that many of the region’s top players and proven winners from the Asian Tour have signed up for the Iskandar Johor Open.”

The four players from the top 10 in the UBS Order of Merit are Liang Wenchong of China, Gaurav Ghei of India, Nirat Chapchai of Thailand and Hend.