Asian Tour Book 2024

Lee Westwood and Thongchai Jaidee. With a four-day aggregate of 23-under 261, Puig’s performance drew comparisons with the way in which a young Tiger Woods had brought the Robert Trent Jones II-designed layout in Kuala Lumpur to its knees a quarter of a century earlier. In partnership with Mark O’Meara, Woods led the United States to victory in the 1999 World Cup of Golf at The Mines. With a 72-hole tally of 263 (67-68-63-65), Woods also won the award as the low individual by no fewer than nine strokes David Puig, Jeunghun Wang, and David Boriboonsub [left] all secured a place in The Open. For Wang [right] it was his best result since returning from National Service. from New Zealander Frank Nobilo. No wonder Puig found it difficult to put into words exactly what happened. “It feels great – a weird feeling for sure,” was the 22-year-old’s instant assessment. “We almost missed the cut. I actually finished round two well, and the weekend was just insane! I mean 18 birdies, no bogeys, in 36 holes was unbelievable,” said Puig, who received an exciting added bonus. With the Malaysian Open being included as part of The Open Qualifying Series, the leading three players not otherwise exempt qualified for the 152nd Open Championship. As well as claiming the US$180,000 first prize cheque, Puig also earned a starting spot at Royal Troon in July, along with runner-up Jeunghun Wang of Korea and Thai David Boriboonsub. “Getting that Open spot is super cool, I came here for that,” said Puig after a final- day of remarkable low scoring that saw Wang and Denwit both return 61s. As preferred lies were played no records were officially set, including Boriboonsub’s back nine of eight-under 28 which matched the Asian Tour record. Wang, who regained his Asian Tour card at January’s Qualifying School, and Boriboonsub could not have chosen a better time to post the lowest rounds of their careers. “I haven’t been playing well, so this is a really good result for me,” said Wang, a three-time champion on the DP World Tour, and a winner on the Asian Tour. “Today was amazing golf,” said 20-year-old Boriboonsub, who had finished 2023 in stunning style with wins in three successive weeks – the Aramco Invitational on the Asian Development Tour (ADT), the Thailand Open on the All Thailand Golf Tour and the Asian Tour’s season-ending Saudi Open presented by PIF. Khavish Varadan, joint leader at the half-way mark, ended as the leading Malaysian after closing with a 68 for a share of 13th place on 15-under, outshining his country’s number one, Gavin Green, who surprisingly bowed out after 36 holes, following an opening 64 with an error- strewn 76. Malaysia’s national Open was notable also for the fact that 17 graduates from the previous month’s Asian Tour Qualifying School survived the cut, as did five players from the top-10 of the 2023 ADT Order of Merit – an indication of the increasing number of playing opportunities the Tour offers. 34 I R S PR IMA MA L AYS I A N OPEN T H E M I N E S R E S O R T A N D GO L F C L U B F E B R UA RY 1 5 - 1 8 , 2 0 2 4 | P R I Z E MON E Y: U S $ 1 M I L L I ON

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