Massive Malaysian challenge at PKNS Selangor Masters

THIS week’s PKNS Selangor Masters will see a huge local presence, with 55 Malaysians teeing up at Seri Selangor Golf Club in the season-opener of the 2025 Asian Development Tour.Co-sanctioned with the Professional Golf of Malaysia (PGM) Tour, the much-anticipated 12th edition offers a handsome total purse of US$200,000 (RM895,180). The field of 144 players is made up of 80 from the ADT, 40 from the PGM, and 24 tournament invitations.The leading Malaysian professional this week will pocket a RM10,000 bonus on top of the regular prize money, an added incentive that was introduced in 2023.Four Malaysian professionals earned their starts though the ADT, namely Shahriffuddin Ariffin who won this event in 2022, Paul San, and two Seri Selangor ambassadors, Marcus Lim and Amir Nazrin.Lim finished third at last year’s championship in his maiden professional start, picking up the RM10,000 bonus as best Malaysian, along with US$11,025 (RM49,346) from the regular prize pool. The 23-year-old talent is looking forward to another good week on his home course.“This PKNS Selangor Masters kick started my professional career last year and I’ll always be grateful to this event. It’s played at my home course, Seri Selangor, and I’m very comfortable playing here. The course is challenging and you’ve got to hit the right shots, make sure you don’t miss too big because it’s going to be punishing. I’m just excited for the event to start tomorrow,” said Lim.Shahriffuddin is not the only former champion in the field, with his successor Ho Yu-Cheng of Chinese Taipei also hoping to bag a second PKNS Selangor Masters title this week. Starting out as favourite will be 2024 ADT Order of Merit winner Itthipat Buranatanyarat of Thailand, who triumphed in last year’s season-ending Aramco Invitational Tournament to pick up his fourth ADT title. He finished tied 19th in the 2024 PKNS Selangor Masters.Another Thai to look out for is Runchanapong Youprayong, who finished 12th on the 2024 ADT Order of Merit. Youprayong has a remarkable record in the PKNS Selangor Masters, following up a T2 finish in 2023 with a T3 performance last year.Australian Deyen Lawson is another player who has done extremely well in the PKNS Selangor Masters in recent years, finishing as runner-up in 2023 and 2024. He fell short by just one stroke on both occasions and will be keen to add to his sole ADT victory at the 2023 Indo Masters Golf Invitational.Six stalwarts of the game are teeing it up this week, namely Bangladeshi legend Siddikur Rahman, Juvic Pagunsan of the Philippines, the American duo of Anthony Kang and Berry Henson, Lu Wei-chih of Chinese Taipei, and Malaysia’s own Danny Chia. Collectively, they boast 13 Asian Tour titles, including the 2009 Maybank Malaysian Open which was won by Kang.The invitational players include the individual boys’ champion of last week’s Selangor International Junior Golf Championship (SIJGC), Korean Jung Ji Won who was a runaway winner with a 10-under-par total at Seri Selangor. There is also a slot for the leading Malaysian boy from the SIJGC, but national player Anson Yeo, who was third, declined the invitation due to prior commitments. The spot was thus given to the next best-placed Malaysian, 13-year-old talent Muhammad Afham Othman, who was 20th in the boys’ individual standings.This will be the last professional event to be played on the original version of the highly-rated Seri Selangor course, a favourite with both elite golfers and everyday amateurs for its risk-for-reward design and fast greens. Crafted by Australian architect Ross Watson and opened for play in 1998, the course is set to undergo a redesign come February.In a departure from the past two events, the course will be set up as a par-71 layout with a total length of 6,922 yards. The fifth hole will revert to a par-five for the tournament, having been played as a long par-four in the two previous editions.The PKNS Selangor Masters is promoted by PKNS Golf Management Services, which is a subsidiary of the Selangor State Development Corporation (PKNS), who have been the title sponsor since 2022.The Selangor Masters was first staged in 2007 as a local event before joining the Asian Tour the following year, when Malaysia’s Ben Leong emerged triumphant. It was played on the Asian Tour until 2014, before returning as an Asian Development Tour event in 2022 when Shahriffuddin became the second Malaysian to claim the title.Seri Selangor has been the venue on each occasion, except in 2011 and 2012 when the tournament was played at Kota Permai Golf & Country Club.

THIS week’s PKNS Selangor Masters will see a huge local presence, with 55 Malaysians teeing up at Seri Selangor Golf Club in the season-opener of the 2025 Asian Development Tour. Co-sanctioned with the Professional Golf of Malaysia (PGM) Tour, the much-anticipated 12th edition offers a handsome total purse of US$200,000 (RM895,180). The field of 144 players is made up of 80 from the ADT, 40 from the PGM, and 24 tournament invitations.

The leading Malaysian professional this week will pocket a RM10,000 bonus on top of the regular prize money, an added incentive that was introduced in 2023. Four Malaysian professionals earned their starts though the ADT, namely Shahriffuddin Ariffin who won this event in 2022, Paul San, and two Seri Selangor ambassadors, Marcus Lim and Amir Nazrin. Lim finished third at last year’s championship in his maiden professional start, picking up the RM10,000 bonus as best Malaysian, along with US$11,025 (RM49,346) from the regular prize pool.

The 23-year-old talent is looking forward to another good week on his home course. “This PKNS Selangor Masters kick started my professional career last year and I’ll always be grateful to this event. It’s played at my home course, Seri Selangor, and I’m very comfortable playing here.

The course is challenging and you’ve got to hit the right shots, make sure you don’t miss too big because it’s going to be punishing. I’m just excited for the event to start tomorrow,” said Lim. Shahriffuddin is not the only former champion in the field, with his successor Ho Yu-Cheng of Chinese Taipei also hoping to bag a second PKNS Selangor Masters title this week.

Starting out as favourite will be 2024 ADT Order of Merit winner Itthipat Buranatanyarat of Thailand, who triumphed in last year’s season-ending Aramco Invitational Tournament to pick up his fourth ADT title. He finished tied 19th in the 2024 PKNS Selangor Masters. Another Thai to look out for is Runchanapong Youprayong, who finished 12th on the 2024 ADT Order of Merit.

Youprayong has a remarkable record in the PKNS Selangor Masters, following up a T2 finish in 2023 with a T3 performance last year. Australian Deyen Lawson is another player who has done extremely well in the PKNS Selangor Masters in recent years, finishing as runner-up in 2023 and 2024. He fell short by just one stroke on both occasions and will be keen to add to his sole ADT victory at the 2023 Indo Masters Golf Invitational.

Six stalwarts of the game are teeing it up this week, namely Bangladeshi legend Siddikur Rahman, Juvic Pagunsan of the Philippines, the American duo of Anthony Kang and Berry Henson, Lu Wei-chih of Chinese Taipei, and Malaysia’s own Danny Chia. Collectively, they boast 13 Asian Tour titles, including the 2009 Maybank Malaysian Open which was won by Kang. The invitational players include the individual boys’ champion of last week’s Selangor International Junior Golf Championship (SIJGC), Korean Jung Ji Won who was a runaway winner with a 10-under-par total at Seri Selangor.

There is also a slot for the leading Malaysian boy from the SIJGC, but national player Anson Yeo, who was third, declined the invitation due to prior commitments. The spot was thus given to the next best-placed Malaysian, 13-year-old talent Muhammad Afham Othman, who was 20th in the boys’ individual standings. This will be the last professional event to be played on the original version of the highly-rated Seri Selangor course, a favourite with both elite golfers and everyday amateurs for its risk-for-reward design and fast greens.

Crafted by Australian architect Ross Watson and opened for play in 1998, the course is set to undergo a redesign come February. In a departure from the past two events, the course will be set up as a par-71 layout with a total length of 6,922 yards. The fifth hole will revert to a par-five for the tournament, having been played as a long par-four in the two previous editions.

The PKNS Selangor Masters is promoted by PKNS Golf Management Services, which is a subsidiary of the Selangor State Development Corporation (PKNS), who have been the title sponsor since 2022. The Selangor Masters was first staged in 2007 as a local event before joining the Asian Tour the following year, when Malaysia’s Ben Leong emerged triumphant. It was played on the Asian Tour until 2014, before returning as an Asian Development Tour event in 2022 when Shahriffuddin became the second Malaysian to claim the title.

Seri Selangor has been the venue on each occasion, except in 2011 and 2012 when the tournament was played at Kota Permai Golf & Country Club..