Professional golfer Danny Chia, currently ranked within the Top 50 on the Asian Tour’s Order of Merit, made history for Malaysia. In 2010, he became the first player from Malaysia to play in all four rounds at the British Open at St. Andrews. He also secured two Top 10 finishes at the Sail Open in India and Handa Singapore Classic.

He enjoyed one of his best seasons in a long while in 2009 thanks to five Top 20s. He was tied-seventh at the Mercuries Taiwan Masters and equal 11th in the Maybank Malaysian Open where he was the halfway leader

The 38-year old was also the first Malaysian to win an Asian Tour event when he won the Taiwan Open in 2002. He won The International Championship in Jakarta in 2007 and the Mercedes-Benz Masters Thailand in 2008.

Chia also broke the USD100,000 mark in total career earnings for the first time since 1998. In 2002, Chia became the second Malaysian to play in The Open Championship.

Mohd Shaaban Hussin who turned professional in 2003, shocked the nation when he qualified for the inaugural PGA Tour-sanctioned event in Malaysia last year. He beat nearly a field of over 100 professionals that battled it out for the one spot allocated for a Malaysian professional.

Shabaan learned to play golf while he was caddying at the Royal Kedah Golf Club at the age of 14. He has represented Malaysia in various international tournaments and was ranked as Malaysia’s number one amateur in 2001 and 2002 before turning professional.

2009 would prove to be a memorable year for Shaaban as he secured his Asian Tour card by a mere USD308 in 65th place on the Order of Merit. His season was capped with a tied 9th finish at the Brunei Open and a tied 11th outing at the Worldwide Holdings Selangor Masters in Malaysia.

He almost made a breakthrough at the Johnnie Walker Cambodian Open but failed to birdie the 18th hole to force a play-off with eventual winner Marcus Both of Australia to finish second. He struggled to find his feet in 2010 and claimed a tied 10th finish Cambodian Open.

Shaaban was the ranked number one Malaysian amateur in 2001 and 2002.

In 2010, M. Sasidaran made five consecutive cuts starting from the Worldwide Holdings Selangor Masters and managed his best placing of tied 33rd at the Iskandar Johor Open. He struggled in 2009 but finished an impressive eighth place at the Queen’s Cup in Thailand.

Sasidaran earned his right to feature in the Asian Tour from a country exemption. Sasidaran, who played in nine competitions, finished in the Top 10 at the Bangkok Airways Open and Singha Open. In the Asean Tour, he finished 12th in Singapore.

Airil Rizman Zahari became only the second Malaysian to win on the Asian Tour when he claimed victory at the 2007 Pakistan Open holding off of Scott Hend and Simon Hurd in the final round. Went on to post two other Top 10s but success has been hard to follow in the subsequent seasons where he later conceded that he made too many changes to his game, including switching equipment manufacturers.

He showed glimpses of his best form in 2010 by finishing tied 14th at the Worldwide Holdings Selangor Masters and revealed that he had reverted back to his old clubs. He endured a frustrating 2009 season where his best result was a tied 21st finish at the Mercuries Taiwan Masters.

Airil was the Malaysian National Amateur champion in 1998, 1999 and 2001 and a team gold medallist at the 2001 Southeast Asian Games.

S. Sivachandran ended his 2010 season by finishing atop the Asian Development Tour Order of Merit. That position earned him his Asian Tour card for the 2011 season. The Malaysian rounded off a spectacular week at the 2010 Negeri Sembilan Masters Invitational, Malaysia with an astounding 12-stroke victory. His wire-to-wire victory with a four-day total of 18-under-par 270 earned him a first Asian Development Tour victory.

Sivachandran’s best finish during the 2009 Asian Tour season was a tied 10th finish at the Mercuries Taiwan Masters. He posted five Top 30s in 2008. He delivered one Top 20 on home soil at the Iskandar Johor Open in the 2007 season.

As an amateur, he was ranked number one in Malaysia before turning professional.

Ben Leong fulfilled his potential when he won the Worldwide Selangor Masters in 2008, beating Thai star Thongchai Jaidee in a head-to-head duel. It culminated a three week stretch as he had won two other Malaysian titles in quick succession.

In 2009, Leong only managed one Top 20 at the Mercuries Taiwan Masters but bounced back superbly in 2010 where he claimed two Top 10 finish at the Brunei Open and Yeangder Tournament Players Championship in Chinese Taipei.

Prior to his victory, Leong showed signs of a breakthrough when he finished tied third in the Asian Tour International in Thailand and fifth in the Singha Thailand PGA Championship. He also holds the distinction of winning the Asian Tour’s Qualifying School in successive years at the end of 2006 and 2007.

He turned professional after representing Malaysia in the Asian Games in Doha in 2006 and enjoyed a good amateur career, highlighted by his triumphs in the Putra Cup.

Currently Leong is aiming to become the first Malaysian to claim multiple Asian Tour titles when the new season tees off at the Avantha Masters in India.

17-year old Chan Tuck Soon is regarded as the number one junior golfer in Malaysia. He has numerous titles under his belt and he’s well respected as one of the great talents in Malaysian golf. He has even shot a 66 at the tender age of 12 years. At the recent British Junior Open at the Lundin Golf Club in Scotland, Chan conquered his first links course to finish 10th out of a field of 150 juniors from 70 countries.

In 2010 alone, Chan has collected 18 Top 10 finish including wins at the 3rd Sportexcel Junior Open at the Royal Johor Golf Club back in June and the Perak Amateur Golf Championship in November. He also claimed the runner-up spot at the Majlis Sukan Sekolah-sekolah Selangor, KL Amateur Open, 2nd Elite Sportexcel Championship, the 5th Elite Sportexcel, 10th Sportexcel Junior Open, Grand Final of the Sportexcel Junior Open and the Asia Pacific Junior Matchplay.