Major champion fest at Malaysian Open
BY Bruce Young | Asian Tour | 2011 Maybank Malaysian Open | Preview | 13 Apr 2011
The European Tour spends the next three weeks in Asia, beginning this week at the Maybank Malaysian Open at the Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club in the suburbs of Kuala Lumpur.
The event is co-sanctioned with the Asian Tour as is the Ballantine’s Championship in Korea in two weeks time, these two events split by the Volvo China Open jointly sanctioned with the One Asia Tour.
This week’s event is played at the Nelson Howarth designed layout, one of two courses at the KLGCC built in the era of the golf course boom in Malaysia in the early 1990’s.
Amazingly the tournament has been able to attract three of the four current major championship winners with last week’s Masters Champion Charl Schwartzel, 2010 Open Champion Louis Oosthuizen and the current world number one and PGA Champion Martin Kaymer teeing it up.
Schwartzel could well have been forgiven for withdrawing from this week’s event given the circumstances but is a confirmed starter as is the man who imploded in last Sunday’s final round Rory McIlroy. Both must be given credit for fulfilling their commitments to the event especially after such a rugged week of contrasting fortunes.
For good measure the event has also been able to attract arguably the most exciting teenager in the game, Matteo Manassero, so tournament organisers will be pinching themselves with the quality of the field and the generally good form of the leading lights.
They will also have the talents of yet another brilliant teenager in the defending champion Noh Seung-Yul who defeated K.J. Choi by one shot last year.
Kaymer was again a disaster at the Masters and perhaps got confused in trying to mould his game for Augusta National too much rather than relying on the game that got him to number one. Kaymer has now played the Masters on four occasions for four missed cuts so it may well be his reaction to the venue rather than any real flaw in his game. He gets another chance this week and was playing well enough prior to Augusta National for there to be significant improvement.
Schwartzel might struggle to come to earth so soon after such a significant milestone in his life. He is a composed figure of that there is little doubt but the roar of the crowds at Augusta National will no doubt still be ringing in his ears when he tees it up this week.
Oosthuizen missed the cut last week but his form prior in events in the US was good enough for him to be a consideration this week. He finished 9th in this event in 2009 albeit on a different layout.
Rhys Davies has found form in recent weeks and did play well in this event when third last year over this layout.
Australasians in the field in alphabetical order are Scott Barr, Darren Beck, Adam Blyth, Marcus Both, Mark Brown, Michael Campbell, Tony Carolan, Andre Dodt, Gavin Flint, Marcus Fraser, Daniel Gaunt, David Gleeson, Matthew Griffin, Scott Hend, Rick Kulacz, Danny Lee, Terry Pilkadaris, Unho Park and Mark Purser, Brett Rumford, Tim Stewart and Scott Strange.
