The Maybank Championship is set for another star-studded chapter when Asia’s premier ladies’ golf event returns to Kuala Lumpur Golf & Country Club (KLGCC) this October 29-November 1.
With a US$3 million prize purse, the fourth edition brings together Major champions, LPGA Tour winners and Southeast Asia’s emerging talents for four days of world-class competition at KLGCC.
The competition for the coveted Tiger Trophy has never been more intense. Defending champion and Major winner Miyu Yamashita of Japan is one of the season's most in-form players, highlighted by a dominant nine-stroke victory at the CPKC Women's Open in Canada in August and a playoff win at the Sony JLPGA Championship in Japan in September.
Having claimed a dramatic three-way playoff victory at last year’s Maybank Championship, she will have every intention of becoming the tournament’s first repeat champion.
Crowd favourite, Thai darling and World No. 2 Jeeno Thitikul of Thailand is also on a rich vein of form, having already claimed three LPGA Tour victories in 2026 to take her total title tally to ten. She returns for a fourth consecutive year in pursuit of the elusive Tiger Trophy, having narrowly missed out in each of her last appearances.
Thitikul’s close friend Ruoning Yin of China, the 2024 Maybank Championship winner and a Major champion, will also return to Malaysia in winning mode having triumphed at the FM Championship in August.
The spotlight will also firmly be turned on Korean ace Haeran Ryu, who is currently second on the LPGA Tour’s Race to CME Globe ranking on the back of successive Major victories in 2026 at the KPMG Women's PGA Championship and the Amundi Evian Championship.
Adding her considerable star power to the field is the perennially popular New Zealander Lydia Ko, a three-time Major winner and reigning Olympic champion who was inducted into the LPGA Hall of Fame in 2024 at age 27.
Australian stalwart Hannah Green and Hye-Jin Choi of South Korea, who were the two other protagonists in last year's playoff, will return with unfinished business on their agendas. 2023 Maybank Championship winner Céline Boutier of France, who edged Thitikul in a nail-biting nine-hole playoff at KLGCC three years ago, is also in the field.
Other fan favourites who have signed up include emerging English sensation Lottie Woad and her experienced compatriot Charley Hull, and Japanese twins Aki and Chizzy Iwai. The identical twins have been in roaring form this season and will be among the frontrunners for the title.
The Maybank Championship is more than Asia’s premier golf event. It provides a distinctive regional pathway for Southeast Asian talent to earn their place alongside the world’s best. This year, five players who earned their places through the Maybank Championship Asean Qualifier bring that story to life.
Held in August at KLGCC’s West Course, the 36-hole qualifier concluded with Thai professional Pimnipa Panthong and her amateur compatriots Sarisa Pojanalai and Achiraya Sriwong locked together at four-under-par 140 (Sriwong turned professional recently). Standout Thai amateur Marisa Tojai, who had already claimed four amateur titles in 2026 before arriving at the qualifier, secured the fourth spot at two-under 142, while Malaysia’s Liyana Durisic rounded out the top five at one-under 143.
For Malaysian fans, there will be plenty to roar about. Liyana Durisic is currently in great form, having already claimed four PGM Tour titles in 2026, and the Women’s World Sand Greens Championship held in Australia in March. She will be joined by a talented and recognisable group of Malaysian players entering as Sponsor’s Invitations, namely Mirabel Ting, Jeneath Wong, Natasha Oon and Kelly Tan, to make up a five-strong Malaysian challenge.
2025 Annika Award winner Mirabel Ting made headlines in 2024 by becoming the highest-finishing Malaysian in Maybank Championship history, with a T12 finish as an amateur. Her fine performances continued into her debut season on this year’s Epson Tour, helping her clinch two victories in 2026. The wins propelled Ting to the top of the Epson Tour’s Race for the Card standings and secured her place on the LPGA Tour for the 2027 season.
Joining Ting is Malaysia’s highest-ranked amateur (currently ranked 59th), Jeneath Wong. After a stellar season in 2023 that saw her earn her a major championship start at the US Women's Open, Wong made history as the first Malaysian to win the Women's Amateur Asia-Pacific Championship in 2025, a victory which earned her further major championship starts, bringing an increasingly impressive international résumé to KLGCC.
One-time Epson Tour winner and 2023 Epson Tour Rookie of the Year Natasha Oon makes her first appearance at the Maybank Championship since 2023, seeking to capitalise on her encouraging performance at the recent CPKC Women’s Open. The LPGA Tour rookie is rebuilding her momentum following a lengthy injury that saw her miss most of the 2024 and 2025 seasons.
Completing the Malaysian line-up is two-time Olympian Kelly Tan, Malaysia's most successful LPGA Tour player. Tan recorded her career-best results on the LPGA Tour with runner-up finishes at the Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational in 2022 and 2023, and returns to KLGCC for the third time, bringing over a decade of elite professional experience on the West Course.
