Red Hot Lam Set for Saujana Test
Singapore’s Lam Chih Bing starts this week’s US$60,000 Mercedes-Benz Masters Malaysia as hot favourite following an inspired run of form on Malaysian soil.
He won the Salcon Negri Masters on Sunday and finished runner-up in the Heritage Melaka Classic last month leaving few in doubt that he will feature prominently when this week’s tournament tees-off tomorrow at Saujana Golf and Country Club in Kuala Lumpur.
“I am definitely on a roll at the moment. It is nice to be consistently putting results together. I have not been getting ahead of myself and have just been taking it round by round. The same will apply this week so hopefully I can keep it going,” said Lam.
The 32 year old won in sensational fashion at the weekend when he holed a 40 foot putt for an eagle on the fourth play-off hole to beat Taiwan veteran Lu Chien-soon. The victory made amends for finishing second in Melaka - where Thai star Thaworn Wiratchant overtook him over the closing holes.
“Last week was definitely one of the most exciting tournaments I have played in. It was great to come away with the win as Lu is such a good player with a lot of experience. The Melaka result was definitely in the back of my mind,” added Lam.
Lam’s career continues to go from strength to strength following a breakthrough 2008 season when he won three times in the Mercedes-Benz Masters Indonesia, Asian Masters, and Singapore PGA Championship.
This week’s event marks the fifth leg of the year on the Mercedes-Benz Tour.
Lam, who is currently ranked in fourth place on the Mercedes-Benz Tour Order of Merit, is joined by a host of top players including leading Malaysians Danny Chia, Iain Steel, Airil Rizman, and S. Siva Chandran.
Also competing are Angelo Que, Juvic Pagunsan and Mars Pucay from the Philippines, and Thailand’s Wisut Artjanawat.
Injury and illness have robbed the tournament of defending champion Ben Leong from Malaysia and Singapore’s Mardan Mamat – who is currently ranked number one on the Mercedes-Benz Tour Order of Merit.
Leong has been struggling all season with a wrist injury and was therefore forced to withdraw.
“It is disappointing that I cannot defend my title but I feel it is best that I rest my wrist. I will take it easy this week before determining when I can play next,” said Leong.
The Malaysian’s victory in this event last year was his first as a professional and gave him the confidence to go on and claim his first title on the Asian Tour at the Worldwide Selangor Masters.
Mamat, winner of the season-opening Mercedes-Benz Masters Singapore, has been troubled by flu over the past couple of days and also opted not to tee it up.
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