2006 Pulai Springs Malaysian Masters

A star-studded cast led by Thai duo Thongchai Jaidee and Thaworn Wiratchant will help launch the inaugural Pulai Springs Malaysian Masters from August 31 to September 3, officials announced today.

The US$300,000 (RM1.1 million) tournament is the latest to join the burgeoning Asian Tour Schedule and the Who's Who of Asian golf will be showcased at Pulai Springs Resort, located in Johor, the southern most state in Malaysia.

Last season's Order of Merit winner Thaworn, Thongchai, who is a two-time Asian number one, and India's Jyoti Randhawa, who ruled the region in 2002, will headline a stellar field which includes a slew of other tournament winners.

Mardan Mamat, the first Singaporean to win a co-sanctioned tournament with the European Tour, Australian Kane Webber, South African Hendrik Buhrmann and England's Chris Rodgers are amongst this season's Asian Tour winners who will head full speed to the award-winning Pulai Springs Resort.

The winner will take home US$47,550 (approximately RM176,000).

"It is a pleasure that the first Pulai Springs Malaysian Masters has attracted some of the very best players from Asia," said Pulai Springs Berhad’s Managing Director, Dato Chua Jui Leng.

"As a new event on the Asian Tour Schedule, it is tremendous that we will have top quality players as the likes of Thongchai, Thaworn and Randhawa who are amongst the best known Asian players who have emerged in a very big way in recent times.

“Pulai Springs Resort firmly believes that Johor has a huge potential as a preferred golfing destination. We believe that promoting Johor as a golfing destination is a joint-effort between the private and public sectors. This synergy and cooperation is vital in placing the state as a preferred golfing hub on the map of Asia and perhaps the world.

“Pulai Springs Resort is taking the lead by hosting this tournament and this shows our commitment to be one of the main players in the country. We are also all geared to support the initiatives of the government in its endeavours to boost the golfing tourism sector," he added.

Chua added that the Resort has pledged to take the Pulai Springs Malaysian Masters towards greater heights and to ensure its growth and maintained its prestige on the AsianTour during the next five years.

“Being the recipient of the FIABCI Prix d’Excellence Award in 2000 for the World’s Best Leisure Resort Development, Pulai Springs Resort will continue to build its brand equity, enhance its corporate branding and increase its brand recall in the golf market,” he said.

“This tournament gives us the opportunity to showcase our facilities and services and with the new 300-unit CintaAyu Resort Apartments due to be completed by year end, the Resort looks forward to hosting more international tournaments of this magnitude and being able to house all players and their guests under one roof,” added Chua.

Asian Tour Chief Executive Louis Martin lauded the birth of the Pulai Springs Malaysian Masters which is one of two Malaysian events on the Tour's 2006 Schedule.

"The launch of the Pulai Springs Malaysian Masters is a wonderful breakthrough for the Asian Tour. Golf in Malaysia is growing and we have always felt that the market here is strong enough to host several more events on the Asian Tour," said Martin.

"It is fantastic that our biggest names will grace the inaugural event here later this month and we are indebted to Pulai Springs Resort for title sponsoring this new tournament."

Martin added that the tournament will help boost golf tourism in Malaysia as a one-hour highlights programme of the Pulai Springs Malaysian Masters will be aired over ESPN StarSports. Additionally, Asian Tour Weekly, a magazine show produced by the Tour, will also preview the tournament.

"Pulai Springs Resort is a wonderful facility and it is an ideal venue to stage a new and exciting event. I have no doubt the event will capture the imagination of television viewers as the Pulai course is an outstanding site.

"After the inaugural event, we intend to work hand in hand with Pulai Springs Resort and build this into a sporting spectacle that Malaysia can be proud of."

The talented Thaworn will start as one of the favourites to win the tournament as he is finding his form once again after a stellar 2005 season. Then, he won four titles en route to his maiden Order of Merit triumph.

Malaysia has been a happy hunting ground for Thaworn as he won the Sabah Masters and Volvo Masters of Malaysia previously on Malaysian soil. The 39-year-old recently enjoyed a huge boost when he finished a commendable tied 31st in his maiden British Open appearance at Royal Liverpool last month.

Thongchai, a two-time Malaysian Open champion, lifted the Asian Tour Order of Merit title in 2001 and 2004 and is presently ranked fifth on the UBS Order of Merit. He recently posted two top-20 outings on the European Tour and will be expected to challenge for honours in Pulai Springs Resort.

ABOUT THE PULAI SPRINGS MALAYSIAN MASTERS
The Pulai Springs Malaysian Masters is making its debut on the Asian Tour Schedule. The US$300,000 (RM1.1 million) tournament is title sponsored by Pulai Springs Resort, which is an international award-winning golf and fully-integrated leisure resort located in Johor, Malaysia. Pulai Springs Resort is ranked as one of the World’s Top 50 Golf Resorts in “The Finest Golf Resorts of the World Collection 1999 & 2000”, a society of the world’s most distinguished clubs in St. Andrews, Scotland. The Resort was also bestowed the coveted FIABCI Prix d’Excellence Award 2000 for World’s Best Leisure Resort Development and as quoted by Wall Street Journal as “The most prestigious real estate award in the world”. The tournament serves as an ideal platform to launch the Resort’s corporate branding campaign and strategies and is being staged on the Pulai Course, designed by Robert Trent Jones II. The Pulai Springs Malaysian Masters is sanctioned by the Asian Tour, which is the governing body for professional tournament golf in Asia.

August 16, 2006

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