The field of 144 players at this week's PKNS Selangor Masters includes no less than 59 Malaysians – 40 from the Toyota Tour and the rest qualifying through the Asian Development Tour (ADT) or playing by invitation. Among the leading local contenders is Ervin Chang, who was the top Malaysian in the 2023 edition which earned him a RM10,000 bonus.

While Chang has not enjoyed the best of results recently, missing the cut last week in Vietnam, the 25-year-old is feeling confident on home soil at one of his favourite courses.

“I actually played well last week in Vietnam, but fell a little short of the cutline. I’ve been trying a few different things and just learning how to play golf again, and not being too technical with whatever I'm feeling in the swing. Overall, I’m pretty confident with my game and am looking forward to a good event,” said Chang, who turned professional in 2022.

“Seri Selangor is a golf course that a lot of players look forward to playing. It seems easy but actually it’s really challenging, especially on the greens. There are many opportunities to score, but you have to be smart and just play to your strengths,” he noted.

2022 champion Shahriffuddin Ariffin and Galven Green will also be among the Malaysians to look out for. Shahriffuddin narrowly missed out on winning in Vietnam last week, closing with a superb 65 to finish joint second just one shot behind Baig, while Green was joint fourth. Green has already won twice on the Toyota Tour this year and was the second best-placed Malaysian in T10 position at last year’s PKNS Selangor Masters.

Asian Tour winners Danny Chia and Nicholas Fung are also among the large Malaysian contingent, along with promising rookies Marcus Lim and Khavish Varadan. Lim won on the Toyota Tour as an amateur in 2023, while Khavish finished as best Malaysian in T13 place at the Asian Tour’s IRS Prime Malaysian Open earlier this year.

There are a total of 13 amateurs playing this week, including seven Malaysians in Nateeshvar Anatha Ganesh, Rizq Adam Rohizam, Zia Iqmal Abdul Rashid, Muhammad Danial, Lam Kong Foo, Putra Huzaireil Khan, and Roslan Piei. Last week’s Selangor International Junior Golf Championship winner, 16-year-old Shijun Jing of China, and second runner-up Josiah Edwards of Australia, have also been given invitational slots.

This is the 11th edition of the PKNS Selangor Masters, which is promoted by PKNS Golf Management Services, a subsidiary of the Selangor State Development Corporation (PKNS). PKNS has been the title sponsor of the event since 2022. Since the tournament’s inception in 2007, it has seen two local winners with Ben Leong triumphing in the second edition and Shahriffuddin emerging victorious in 2022.

With its hefty prize fund of USD175,000, the PKNS Selangor Masters will have a strong bearing on the top 10 players on the final 2024 ADT Order of Merit who will earn coveted Asian Tour cards for the following season.

2023 champion Ho Yu-cheng of Chinese Taipei has returned to defend the title, along with last year’s joint runners-up Deyen Lawson of Australia and Runchanapong Youprayong of Thailand. Filipino ace Angelo Que, who won this event in 2010, is one of several Asian Tour stalwarts in the field, along with Singapore’s Mardan Mamat, Bangladeshi Siddikur Rahman and India’s Rahil Gangjee.

The challenging Seri Selangor course will once again play as a par-70 layout this week, with the par-five 5th and par-five 18th holes converted to long par-fours for the tournament. Crafted by Australian architect Ross Watson, the popular public course opened for play in 1998 and has received much acclaim for its strategic design and speedy greens.