JENEATH Wong’s triumph at the Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific Championship in Danang, Vietnam, last weekend was “music to the ears”, as they say, to the local golf industry and other parts of the world where one of Malaysia’s brightest young prospects has some sort of affiliation or another.
The 20-year-old, who plays for Pepperdine University in California, dominated the regional stage with an impressive performance, shooting an 18-under 266 to secure the title with a one-shot victory over Soomin Oh. Meanwhile, fellow South Korean Sumin Hong secured third place with a 15-under-par 269 score.
The Malaysian Ladies Golf Association (Malga) presient Tunku Puteri Tunku Puan Sri Datuk Seri Jawahir Almarhum Tuanku Ja’afar was full of praise for Jeneath’s triumph.
Yunseo Yang, also from South Korea, and Australian Jazy Roberts were joint fourth on 270.
Jeneath’s win has been well chronicled, just as it should be – not only because it was at a regional tournament but also because it is one of the standout achievements by a Malaysian player.
As would be expected with success at these sorts of events, she catapulted 45 places up the World Amateur Rankings, to 78th.
But the player who has been as good as 46th in the global standings can be expected to make up even more ground over the coming months.
Such was the victory that Jeneath earned automatic entry into three of this year’s women’s major championships on the LPGA Tour: the AIG Women’s Open at Royal Porthcawl in Wales (July 31 to Aug 3), the Chevron Championship in Texas (April 24-27), and the Amundi Evian Championship (July 10-13) in France.
Just making the cut at one or more of these events could do wonders for her ranking in the amateur game.
With solid Australian connections, having spent almost half of her life growing up in Melbourne, where she developed her game from the age of 10, Jeneath said after her Vietnam victory: “It’s really exciting, giving me the experience to play in those top LPGA events that I want to play (regularly) in the future.”
Her 266 total set a new record for the WAAP Championship, surpassing the previous best of 270 set by Chinese Taipei’s Chun-wei Wu in Thailand last year.
Having made her major debut at the 2023 US Women’s Open at Pebble Beach and being in the field of the Augusta National Women’s Amateur of the same year, a lot more will be expected from the player known as Pocket Dynamite.
In a statement to TeeUp, Tunku Puteri said: “As president of Malga, I am immensely proud of Jeneath’s historic achievement at the Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific Championship.
“And looking ahead, I see a very bright future for women’s golf in Malaysia.
“Jeneath’s success will undoubtedly encourage more young girls to take up the sport and aspire to achieve greatness.
“At Malga, we are committed to nurturing the next generation of female golfers with the continued investment in grassroot development and strong support from the golf community,” she added.
“Malga is sending a team to participate in the Queen Sirikit (QS) Cup in Japan and Jeneath will be one of our three players going to Miyazaki in May.
“The QS Cup is another opportunity for Jeneath and the others to showcase their skills and keep our Malaysian flag flying.”
The Malaysian Golf Association did not respond to a request for comment on Jeneath’s victory in Vietnam.
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