Harrington and Jiménez spearhead challenge for Maybank Malaysian Open
Ryder Cup players Padraig Harrington and Miguel Angel Jiménez will lead a powerful European challenge when the Maybank Malaysian Open gets underway on February 16.
Irishman Harrington heads for the Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club for his first European Tour event in 2006 having won twice on the US PGA Tour last year.
Spain's Jiménez, meanwhile, will be looking to add to his 14 European Tour victories, a record that includes three wins in Asia.
Spearheading the Asian field will be two-time Malaysian Open defending champion Thongchai Jaidee of Thailand and China's best-known player, Zhang Lian Wei.
"The depth of the field in recent years just goes to show how far this tournament has come and how much players like Harrington and Thongchai like to play here," said Dato' Thomas Lee, president of the Malaysian Golf Association.
"This year's Maybank Malaysian Open is building up to be a feast of top-quality golf and intense competition."
The Maybank Malaysian Open has been a major fixture on The European Tour and the Asian Tour since 1999, when it became the first national Open to be granted co-sanctioned status.
Past champions include World Number Two and three-time Major winner Vijay Singh of Fiji and US-based Indian star Arjun Atwal.
"We're very excited to be involved in a competition of this calibre," said Agil Natt, deputy president of Maybank. "Hopefully, Maybank will one day help Malaysia produce a golf champion of an international standard."
Harrington, 34, will tee-off as favourite after his two US PGA Tour successes in 2005. His first was in March at the Honda Classic in Palm Beach, Florida, when he came from seven strokes off the lead after three rounds to beat Singh and Joe Ogilvie in a play-off.
If that victory was dramatic, his next, at the Barclays Classic in Harrison, New York, was astonishing. Three strokes behind with five holes to play, he sank a 65-foot eagle putt on the final hole to beat Jim Furyk by one shot.
Jiménez, 42, will be hoping for third time lucky in the Maybank Malaysian Open after tying for sixth in each of the past two years.
Thongchai, one of Asia's best-ever players, has a habit of making history. In 2004, he became the first Thai to win a European Tour event when he captured the Malaysian Open - a feat so significant the Thai government presented him with a diplomatic passport.
Then in February last year, he repeated the victory, making him the first Asian ever to retain a European Tour title. Next month, he will be going for a hat-trick.
While many eyes will be on these four stars, a talent-packed field will offer a stern challenge with Malaysia's Danny Chia keen to make an impact in his home tournament.
The Malaysian Open, which carries a prize fund of $1.25 million, will mark a new era for the tournament with Maybank signing on as title sponsor in an agreement that lasts through 2010.
It will also be the first time the tournament has been held at the Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club. The club boasts two par 72 championship golf courses, the East Course and the West Course, both designed by Canadian Neil Haworth from Nelson Haworth, the company that also designed the Bali Golf and Country Club in Nusa Dua, Bali and the Shan-Shui Golf and Country Club in Tawau, Sabah.
Irishman Harrington heads for the Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club for his first European Tour event in 2006 having won twice on the US PGA Tour last year.
Spain's Jiménez, meanwhile, will be looking to add to his 14 European Tour victories, a record that includes three wins in Asia.
Spearheading the Asian field will be two-time Malaysian Open defending champion Thongchai Jaidee of Thailand and China's best-known player, Zhang Lian Wei.
"The depth of the field in recent years just goes to show how far this tournament has come and how much players like Harrington and Thongchai like to play here," said Dato' Thomas Lee, president of the Malaysian Golf Association.
"This year's Maybank Malaysian Open is building up to be a feast of top-quality golf and intense competition."
The Maybank Malaysian Open has been a major fixture on The European Tour and the Asian Tour since 1999, when it became the first national Open to be granted co-sanctioned status.
Past champions include World Number Two and three-time Major winner Vijay Singh of Fiji and US-based Indian star Arjun Atwal.
"We're very excited to be involved in a competition of this calibre," said Agil Natt, deputy president of Maybank. "Hopefully, Maybank will one day help Malaysia produce a golf champion of an international standard."
Harrington, 34, will tee-off as favourite after his two US PGA Tour successes in 2005. His first was in March at the Honda Classic in Palm Beach, Florida, when he came from seven strokes off the lead after three rounds to beat Singh and Joe Ogilvie in a play-off.
If that victory was dramatic, his next, at the Barclays Classic in Harrison, New York, was astonishing. Three strokes behind with five holes to play, he sank a 65-foot eagle putt on the final hole to beat Jim Furyk by one shot.
Jiménez, 42, will be hoping for third time lucky in the Maybank Malaysian Open after tying for sixth in each of the past two years.
Thongchai, one of Asia's best-ever players, has a habit of making history. In 2004, he became the first Thai to win a European Tour event when he captured the Malaysian Open - a feat so significant the Thai government presented him with a diplomatic passport.
Then in February last year, he repeated the victory, making him the first Asian ever to retain a European Tour title. Next month, he will be going for a hat-trick.
While many eyes will be on these four stars, a talent-packed field will offer a stern challenge with Malaysia's Danny Chia keen to make an impact in his home tournament.
The Malaysian Open, which carries a prize fund of $1.25 million, will mark a new era for the tournament with Maybank signing on as title sponsor in an agreement that lasts through 2010.
It will also be the first time the tournament has been held at the Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club. The club boasts two par 72 championship golf courses, the East Course and the West Course, both designed by Canadian Neil Haworth from Nelson Haworth, the company that also designed the Bali Golf and Country Club in Nusa Dua, Bali and the Shan-Shui Golf and Country Club in Tawau, Sabah.
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