AS usual all eyes will be on Malaysia’s top golfer Danny Chia to lead the local charge at this year’s Maybank Malaysian Open scheduled from February 8 to 11 at the Saujana Golf and Country Club.

However, this year, Danny will have a string of on-form compatriots to count on winning the most prestigious title in the country.

Including Danny, 15 of Malaysia’s top golfers have confirmed their participation for this year’s championship.

Hot on the list is last month’s Pakistan Open champion Airil Rizman Zahari who will be looking to repeat his feat on home soil. Airil is currently in his best form as he is the only Malaysian to make the cut at the weekend’s Philippine Open at the Wack Wack Golf Club in Manila.

Meanwhile, 21-year-old upcoming golf sensation Ben Leong, is also set to sizzle this weekend. After finishing ninth in the December’s Asian Games in Doha, Leong won the Asian Tour Qualifying School in Pattaya in December to earn himself a full tour card this season.

Lucky Leong will also have his teammates in Doha, S. Sivachandran and Sukree Othman at SGCC as they have also confirmed their entries for the US$ 1.29 million tournament.

Both Sivachndran and Sukree earned wild card entries from the Malaysian Golf Association (MGA) based on their impressive performance last year and at the Asian Games.

After a successful first season with the Asian Tour, Sabahan Iain Steel will be working overtime to improve his last year’s performance in which he failed to make the cut. Last year, Steel, who competed in his first Asian Tour, was the best Malaysian finisher as he finished 42nd in the UBS Order of Merit where he bagged a total of US$99, 779 in 17 outings.
 
Danny will also be looking at improving his 2006 results in which he finished in 31st position along with another Malaysian golfer, Shaaban Hussein.

Underrated golfer, Shaaban is also included in this year’s Malaysian line up and is expected to make the most of the tournament to earn a regular place in the Asian Tour.

Among the other Malaysian golfers who will be competing for the European and Asian Tour sanctioned event are Rashid Ismail, R. Nachimuthu, Solhairy Sharif, Helmie A. Yusof and Shaifubari Muda.

Steven Tan was also in the fray in last year’s squad but the Australian based Malaysian golfer is looking in his best shape of his career. Tan won the Maybank Malaysian Open National Qualifiers at the Bukit Kemuning Golf and Country Resort is in a confident mood as he approaches the MMO.

The three amateurs on the list are also looking good to pull a couple of upsets. The three are Akhmal Tarmizee Mohd Nazari, Alex Tiong Wei Zen and Mohd Amli Mohd Mohiyadeen.

They were selected based on their merits after being promoted as national players thanks to Leong, Sivachandran and Sukree turning pro.

No Malaysian has yet to lift the much coveted title in which after Airil winning performance in Pakistan, the 15 golfers are looking confident in making history this year.

Tickets for the Maybank Malaysian Open 2007 can be purchased via the Ticket Charge website at www.ticketcharge.com.my Those who are interested can also contact the Ticket Charge hotline at +6-03-2241-9999. The hotline is open from Monday to Friday from 9.00am to 6.00pm and Saturdays, from 12.00pm – 6.00pm

Alternatively, those who are interested can purchase tickets to the tournament from ticketing booths at Saujana Golf and Country Club from Thursday (8th February 2007) to Sunday (11th February 2007). Ticketing booths will be open from 7.00am to 4.00pm.