Umar out to enjoy golf journey after topping list of Toyota Tour qualifiers

PETALING JAYA: Promising amateur Umar Khushairi (pic) led the list of 24 qualifiers for the 2023 Toyota Tour after a four-stroke win in the Qualifying School Leg 1 held at Kelab Golf Perkhidmatan Awam (KGPA) in Bukit Kiara, Kuala Lumpur.

Umar carded rounds of 69, 67 and 72 for a total of eight-under 208. The 23-year-old topped the leaderboard by four shots from fellow Universiti Utara Malaysia student Ikhmal Basry (71-69-72). Professional Brandon Lau was third on an even-par 216 (72-73-71).

Players who finished with total scores of 15-over-par or lower over 54 holes earned their tour cards for the 2023 Toyota Tour season.

The qualifiers were made up of 15 professionals and nine amateurs, and included two ladies – professional Jocelyn Chee and amateur Geraldine Wong.

“I feel so grateful and blessed to be able to compete in this Q-School and win,” said Umar.

“I am still recovering from a knee injury and my expectations were actually very low going into this week.

“I’m going to turn professional soon and I’m excited to play on the Toyota Tour. Let’s see how it goes as I just want to enjoy my new golf journey.’’

The three-day qualifier was played at KGPA’s championship combination of the Hill and Lake nines and was open to Malaysian professional golfers and amateur golfers with handicap indices of 7.0 and below, across both genders.

There were two cuts at 25-over for Round 1 and 20-over for Round 2, leaving 49 players to contest the decisive final round.

The first main event of the 2023 Toyota Tour season is the RM230,000 Tun Ahmad Sarji Trophy, which will be played at Saujana Golf and Country Club on March 8-11. This will be followed by eight more closed tournaments including stops in Sarawak and Sabah.

The season will culminate in the RM350,000 Toyota Championship at Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club on Nove 14-17, which will be a co-sanctioned event with the Asian Development Tour (ADT).

RESULTS

Qualifiers

208: Umar Khushairi (A) 69-67-72;

212: Ikhmal Basry (A) 71-69-72;

216: Brandon Lau 72-73-71;

217: Lee Chong Li 76-70-71, Zul Helmi Ramle 75-67-75;

220: Casper Loh (A) 76-72-72;

222: Azmi Hashim 79-72-71, Azry Asyraf 76-72-74, Rozaini Rosli 71-76-75, Adam Shafiq 75-70-77;

225: Jocelyn Chee (L) 75-73-77, Yusof Afandy 73-75-77, Loh Junyou 72-75-78, Ryan Fernandez 73-73-79;

227: Aiden Shaharuddin (A) 77-78-72, Lam Yu Shuen 76-79-72, Geraldine Wong (L)(A) 72-78-77;

228: Lim Chan Yew (A) 80-75-73;

230: Thaznim Hamdan (A) 80-75-75, Justin Chin 76-78-76, Mukhtar Alwi 77-77-76;

231: T. Kiishaan 72-81-78, Anis Hassan 76-77-78, Haziq Aeman (A) 76-77-78.