RELATED STORIES Mardan comes full circle in Singapore Mardan wins wire to wire in Singapore Johl eyes Aamby Valley for maiden title UBS to be title sponsor of Order of Merit MORE ASIAN GOLF NEWS Han Will Speak At IHT Sports Summit Volvik Agree With Asian Tour Over Sponsorship Memories Inspire Rai In Singapore Break Gives Mamat Route To Success Singapore Classic Welcomes Kia Motors PGA Malaysia Moves To OneAsia CCM Extends Sponsorship Of Impian Masters Faldo To Play In Pro-Am In Cambodia NEWS & TOUR TOP STORIES Nick Faldo receives his Knighthood LPGA wins Wendy's 3-Tour Challenge Mickelson raises expectations for 2010 Race to Dubai nears its conclusion Thousands follow Tiger Woods practice round Fans warned about fake Ryder Cup tickets

Mardan and Johl invited to UBS Japan Tour Championship

UBS, one of the most significant supporters of golf in the Asia Pacific region, have extended a sponsors’ invitation to Asian Tour star Mardan Mamat for next week’s UBS Japan Golf Tour Championship, considered amongst the most prestigious events in Japanese men’s golf.

The tournament, which will offer a record ¥150 million (almost US$1.3 million) purse, will be played from June 29-July 2 over the 7,030-yard West Course at Shishido Hills Country Club, located in Ibaraki Prefecture about 90 minutes northeast of Tokyo.

Joining Mardan at the championship will be Asian Tour colleagues Amandeep Johl of India and Swiss Martin Rominger, both also recipients of sponsors’ invites from UBS, one of the world’s leading financial organisations.

The decision to include the three players comes as part of UBS’s pan-regional approach to sponsoring golf in Asia, a portfolio that also includes the UBS Order of Merit and the UBS Hong Kong Open.

For Mardan, the invitation is reward for a stunning first half of the season on the Asian Tour. He currently lies in seventh position on the UBS Order of Merit after victory at his home-town OSIM Singapore Masters in March, becoming the first player from his country to win a European Tour-sanctioned event.

Accordingly, the 38-year-old is looking forward to taking his game to foreign climes. “I expect this event to be a very tough challenge. The rumour is the course is a very difficult layout. I do not expect it to be as difficult as the US Open last week with scores above par, but this is one of the biggest and most prestigious events in Japanese golf. So, added to the difficult course, the field is going to be very strong.”

Although this will be a rare foray onto the Japan Golf Tour for Mardan, the Singaporean has fond memories of competing against leading Japanese players from the 2005 Visa Dynasty Cup. The team event, which pits Asia against Japan, saw Mardan clinch the tying point in his singles match by defeating Toru Suzuki. Suzuki will be in the field at Shishido Hills, along with other big names from that losing team such as Shingo Katayama and Toshimitsu Izawa.

“I am very pleased with my game right now and I gained a great deal of confidence from my win in the Singapore Masters earlier in the year. The last time I was in Japan was for the Okinawa event (December’s Okinawa Open) and that was my one trip to Japan for the past few years. I am looking forward to the UBS Japan Golf Tour Championship and hope I can do well," said Mardan, who finished third at the recent Bangkok Airways Open.

Added Mardan, who has pocketed almost US$200,000 on the Asian Tour in 2006: “I think it is great that UBS as a global company is supporting the Asian Tour with the UBS Order of Merit sponsorship and also extending opportunities for the Asian players to play around the world.

“I am grateful to UBS for giving me the opportunity to play in the UBS Japan Golf Tour Championship and I am proud to represent Singapore and the Asian Tour,” he said.

Johl, meanwhile, will also be looking forward to the opportunity, which comes as a result of UBS’s partnership with the Asian Tour as title-sponsor of the UBS Order of Merit, the year-long race to determine the continent’s best player.

The likeable Indian, a team-mate of Mardan’s at the Dynasty Cup after being chosen as a captain’s selection, currently lies 17th on the UBS Order of Merit, on target for the best season of his career with more than US$100,000 in earnings.

Rominger, the first Swiss to earn playing rights on the Asian Tour, is another beneficiary of the regional golf sponsorship strategy of UBS, headquartered in his home country.

Other Asian Tour players currently entered for the tournament through their playing status in Japan include UBS Order of Merit leader Jeev Milkha Singh, defending Order of Merit champion Thaworn Wiratchant, Liang Wen-chong, Chawalit Plaphol and Thammanoon Srirot.

UBS entered an agreement with the Japan Golf Tour, the country’s governing body for men’s professional tournament golf, to become the title sponsor of the UBS Japan Golf Tour Championship in April this year.

June 20, 2006