Gavin and Co all smiles as home tourney becomes British Open qualifier

PETALING JAYA: European Tour campaigner Gavin Green (pic) will have all the reasons to make a solid charge in the Malaysian Open golf championship at the Mines Golf Club in Seri Kembangan next month.

The Malaysian Open, set to return after a lapse of four years from Feb 15-18, received a boost when it was selected by The R&A as one of the two Asian Tour events to form part of the British Open Qualifying Series.

The other tournament is the Korean Open from June 20-23.

The top three finishers, who have yet to exempted, will qualify to play in the British Open from July 18-21.

The US$1mil (RM4.72mil) Malaysian Open also serves as the season opener for the Asian Tour this year.

Asian Tour chief executive officer and Commissioner Cho Minn Thant said: “The Asian Tour is very pleased that two Opens on our Tour are part of The R&A’s global network of elite qualification events.

“The Malaysian Open will be the opening event of our 2024 season and its qualifying status certainly increases the motivation for our members who are enjoying a much-deserved off season.”

The Malaysian Open now stands tall alongside prestigious events like the US PGA Tour’s Arnold Palmer Invitational, Memorial Tournament, Canadian Open, Italian Open, Dutch Open, and Scottish Open on the DP World Tour (European Tour), serving as one of the 12 international sites of The Open Qualifying Series.

It is the hope that playing in their own backyard will spur Paris Olympics hopeful Gavin and the other Malaysians like Ervin Chang, Ben Leong and Shahriffuddin Ariffin to try to make the cut for the prestigious major championship.

Gavin was the last Malaysian to feature in the British Open in 2018 at the Carnoustie Golf Links in Scotland. He made the cut and finished tied at 61st.

Two other national golfers who had competed in the British Open before are Iain Steel (1996) and Danny Chia (2010).