ASEAN MEETS WORLD’S BEST
One of the unique attributes of the Maybank Championship from 2016 to 2019 was its incredibly diverse field, featuring golfers from more than 30 countries.
In line with Maybank’s increasing regional reach and mission to humanise all that we do, the Maybank Championship promoted and showcased golfers from the ASEAN region. The innovative and diverse qualification categories for the 156-player field included an equitable ASEAN category for golfers, who may not have been able to qualify based on their own merits, for the prestigious event.
The ASEAN spots were based on the Asian Tour Order of Merit, Asian Development Tour Order of Merit, and the National PGA rankings of the ASEAN countries where available.
The inaugural Maybank Championship at The Royal Selangor Golf Club in 2016 saw starts awarded to Malaysia’s Low Khai Jei, Indonesia’s George Gandranata, Singapore’s Koh Deng Shan, Vietnam’s Michael Tran and Myanmar’s Zaw Zaw Latt.
In 2017, the second Maybank Championship at Saujana Golf & Country Club saw Gandranata, Koh and Tran return as ASEAN players, joined by another Vietnamese golfer Ye That Aung and Juvic Pagunsan of the Philippines.
Tran made his third consecutive start in the Maybank Championship in 2018 along with four other ASEAN players – Justin Quiban of Philippines, Naing Naing Lin of Myanmar, Quincy Quek of Singapore and Rory Hie of Indonesia.
The 2019 Maybank Championship featured an ASEAN quintet comprising of Myanmar’s Ye Htet Aung, Danny Masrin of Indonesia, Singapore’s Johnson Poh, and the Filipino duo of Pagunsan and Angelo Que.
Maybank’s ASEAN Agenda was also championed through the sponsorship of the PGM Maybank Championship, which was co-sanctioned by the Professional Golf of Malaysia (PGM) Tour and the Asian Development Tour (ADT) from 2018 to 2019. The two tournaments played a crucial role in determining the seven players who earned Asian Tour cards for the following season.
