The Most Exciting Golf Tournament To Hit Our Shores

The just concluded inaugural Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia was arguably the most exciting golf tournament to hit our shores thus far this year.

The three-day tournament at the Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club (KLGCC) in Bukit Kiara drew the fans in droves to the course from the first round on Friday.

South Korean Kang Jimin won the event, which had star appeal with the world’s top five players – Japan’s Ai Miyazato, American Cristie Kerr, Korean Shin Jiyai, Taiwanese Tseng Yani and Norway’s Suzann Pettersen – in the fray.

American Michelle Wie probably had the biggest following over the weekend and the 21-year-old even had a bodyguard in tow as she walked off the greens to prevent any untoward incident.

But an incident involving Wie did occur when spectators walked across the fairway on the 10th hole just as she was about to tee off on Friday.

The organisers would definitely have issues involving the crowd ironed out when the Tour swings by again about the same time next year, rather than making sure the marshals are busy reprimanding press photographers to stay quiet around the greens.

Aside from delays caused by bad weather on the first two days, everything else went smoothly in the tournament.

And Michael Whan, commissioner of the LPGA, even said that they were looking forward to coming back next year.

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He said that the Malaysian leg next year would follow the South Korean leg and the impact of organising an LPGA tournament in the country could be seen in years to come.

“Six years ago, no Thai players ever made it into Q-School (qualifying for the LPGA tournaments). But after we made a stop there over the past few years, the number of Thai players are on the rise and the same thing could happen here,” said Whan.

The newly-refurbished East Course of the KLGCC was definitely a challenge to the LPGA stars, and it proved to be too much for the Malaysian golfers in the fray.

Except for top amateur Kelly Tan, who was the best Malaysian finisher in tied 32nd spot, Diana Tham, Aretha Pan and Cindy Lee-Pridgen struggled to keep pace.

Kelly, who finished the tournament with a three-over 216, also caught the attention of glamour girl Natalie Gulbis when they shared the same flight on Friday.

“She’s got a beautiful swing. She played very well when I played with her and she’s really got good fundamentals and mechanics,” said Gulbis, who finished tied 22nd.

Amateurs Aretha and Diana finished tied 57th and 59th respectively, while Cindy finished a rung below for the last spot.

Malaysian pro Jean Chua, who was poised for a strong finish among the top-15 after two rounds of play, had a stroke of bad luck on the final hole. She needed 11 strokes to complete the 18th hole, leaving her with a three-day total of eight-over 221.

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Tags: Bukit Kiara, the Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia