Defending Champion, Fabrizio Zanotti Confirm Participation at Maybank Championship 2018

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15 Malaysian golfers will also compete in this world-class field

Maybank Championship announced a line up of the world’s top golfers joining World number 9 Henrik Stenson, the only professional golfer to have won both the FedEx Cup and the Race to Dubai in the same year. They include a number of World Top 50 players such as Bernd Wiesberger; ASEAN favourite, Kiradech Aphibarnrat; Yusaku Miyazato and Yuta Ikeda, some of whom will be competing for the first time at the third instalment of Maybank Championship at Saujana Golf & Country Club from 1-4 February.

The Maybank Championship will also see the return of 2017 champion Fabrizio Zanotti of Paraguay, and 2016 champion Marcus Fraser of Australia, as well as past Maybank Champions such as former World Number 1, Lee Westwood and Matteo Manassero at the US$3million event.

Exciting young champions including Julian Suri, Wade Ormsby, Lucas Bjerregaard, Romain Wattel, and Paul Dunne have also confirmed their participation in the tournament. Dunne, who was one of the players for Maybank Championship 2017 recently won his first European Tour title at the British Masters supported by Sky Sports. The 2018 Ryder Cup captain, Thomas Bjørn will also be part of the pool of talented golfers gracing the event. Apart from that, an exciting name, Andrew Johnston, affectionately known as “The Beef” will make his debut in the Maybank Championship for the first time alongside The Prince of Japanese Golf, Ryo Ishikawa.

South African heavyweights, Haydn Porteous, and two-time European Tour winner Dylan Frittelli, who has most recently won the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open, as well as Dean Burmester, are known to be some of the best ball strikers on the European Tour who will be playing at our backyard.

Two Korean superstars, Wang Jeunghun and Soomin Lee, who came from the ranks of the Asian Tour and went on to win a title respectively on the European Tour, will also be in the field.

Frenchman Alexander Levy, a European Tour winner in 2017 at the Volvo China Open returns to Malaysia having represented Europe in January at the 2018 EurAsia Cup presented by DRB-HICOM. Joining him is Northern Irishman Darren Clarke, and 2016 Masters Champion Danny Willett.

The Chinese are also starting to show their entry to top level golf with Li Haotong, current leader in Chinese golf; Bowen Xiao, the recent winner KG S&H CITY Asian Golf Championship and last but not least, Lin Yuxin, a 17-year-old amateur who will be making his presence felt at The Masters 2018.

“It always feels great to be back in Malaysia. I’ve been really confident with my swings lately and this tournament would be a great opportunity to showcase my technical skills. I’m really looking forward to the tournament and hopefully I’ll win this year,” said Kiradech.

With at least five of the world’s top 50 golfers in attendance and a total of 27 different nationalities, amongst the most diverse field in the world, Maybank Championship looks set to be a thrilling event in line with its aspiration of ensuring the best mix of international and Asian golfing talents in a Malaysian world-class tournament.

A total of top 15 Malaysian professionals and amateurs will also be playing alongside the world champions on that week. They include reigning Asian Tour number one Gavin Green, Danny Chia, Shahriffuddin Ariffin and R. Nachimuthu.

“It is indeed exciting for us to announce the best selection of Malaysian golfers who will be representing our country in the upcoming Maybank Championship 2018. These players have trained vigorously and played extremely well throughout the past year to make it to this year’s list and we are thrilled to see them in action come this February. Our very own Gavin Green, the first Malaysian to win the Asian Tour Order of Merit, whom we have recently extended our multi-year sponsorship as Maybank’s ASEAN Ambassador, will be part of the exciting line-up as well. Aside from Green, renowned golfers from Malaysia such as Nicholas Fung, Ben Leong and Danny Chia who qualified through their own merit through the Asian Tour will also be taking part in the action,” said Datuk Abdul Farid Alias, Group President and CEO of Maybank.

Four spots were awarded to Malaysian professionals who qualified on their own merit through the Asian Tour and 10 spots to local golfers who qualified through PGM Tour’s Order of Merit. Other notable names include Arie Irawan, Khor Kheng Hwai, Amir Nazrin and M. Sasidaran, amongst others. The two spots reserved for amateurs was awarded to Galven Green and the other to Lin Yuxin, winner of the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship.

The full list of Malaysian Players competing at the Maybank Championship 2018 is as follows:

• Gavin Green
• Nicholas Fung
• Ben Leong
• Danny Chia
• Shahriffuddin Ariffin
• R. Nachimuthu
• Arie Irawan
• Sukree Othman
• Khor Kheng Hwai
• Kemarol Baharin
• Airil Rizman Zahari
• Amir Nazrin
• M. Wafiyuddin
• M. Sasidaran
• Galven Green (Amateur)