One of four inaugural events on the groundbreaking 2023 calendar, the Maybank Championship marks the LPGA Tour’s highly anticipated return to Malaysia. With six of the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings Top 10 in attendance, the field speaks for itself, and the Maybank Championship is in for an exciting first edition.
Familiar Fairways
The Tour will return to somewhat familiar surroundings when they tee off at Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club for the inaugural Maybank Championship. From 2010-2017, the club hosted an LPGA Tour event that saw some of the biggest names in women’s golf stand in the winner’s circle. Inbee Park claimed the trophy in 2012, Lexi Thompson followed in 2013, Shanshan Feng won twice in 2014 and 2016 and Cristie Kerr was the last champion in 2017. The course may be familiar, but the outcome of this week’s competition will remain entirely unpredictable. Though the LPGA’s last visit to Malaysia was a mere six years ago, no past champions are in the field this week. Sponsor invite Lydia Ko, a runner-up in 2015, Danielle Kang, a runner-up in 2017, and Amy Yang, who holds the LPGA’s 18-hole scoring record at the course (a 9-under 62), are the lone players in the field that can lean on their prior experience Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club.
Field Highlights
This week’s limited field of 78 LPGA players and 10 sponsor invites is quite the cohort, with several competitors to keep an eye on. The six members of the Rolex Rankings Top 10 – No. 2 Ruoning Yin, No. 3 Jin Young Ko, No. 5 Celine Boutier, No. 6 Nelly Korda, No. 9 Lydia Ko and No. 10 Allisen Corpuz – are the highlights of the field, which also boasts 18 of the 22 winners this season. Every single one of these players will be well worth watching, but Boutier separates herself from the pack with three wins this season and four additional top 10s. Since her back-to-back wins at The Amundi Evian Championship and the FREED GROUP Women’s Scottish Open, the 29-year-old has not finished outside of the top 25. One of the Frenchwoman’s top 10s came just last week when she finished T5 at the BMW Ladies Championship. There were only two other members of the top 10 to finish inside the top 20 in the Republic of Korea last week: Lydia Ko, who put up a staunch defense of her title and ultimately finished solo third – just her second top 10 of the season – and Korda, who finished T16.
Angel on the Rise
Riding a serious hot streak, Angel Yin is a must-watch player in Malaysia this week. Since her 2-1-0 outing in Andalucia, Spain for the U.S. Team at the Solheim Cup, Yin has been unstoppable. In her next start on Tour at the Buick LPGA Shanghai, she earned her maiden win in storybook fashion. After losing to Lilia Vu in a playoff at The Chevron Championship earlier this year, Yin again faced Vu in a playoff in Shanghai but came out victorious. She made history along the way, becoming the 12th Rolex First-Time Winner of the season and breaking the Tour’s all-time record. Yin went straight to the Republic of Korea from her victory in Shanghai and lit up Seowon Valley Country Club. The 25-year-old finished solo fourth for her sixth top-10 finish of the season. Yin was able to ride a boost from the Solheim Cup in Spain all the way to a victory in the People’s Republic of China. Momentum from her win followed her to the BMW Ladies Championship, and there’s no reason to suspect it won’t travel with her to Malaysia this week.
Homecomings
Of the 78 players teeing it up this week, six will be playing under the Malaysian flag: professionals Alyaa Abdulghany, Ashley Lau, Natasha Andrea Oon and Kelly Tan, and amateurs Jing Xuen Ng and Jeneath Wong. Epson Tour graduate Oon is the star of the group, and this week will be a taste of what’s to come for the 22-year-old when she joins the LPGA Tour full-time next year. The decorated San Jose State alum was sensational in her first season on the LPGA’s official qualifying tour, carding eight top 10s in 19 starts – four of which were runner-up results. Oon became the second player to mathematically clinch her Tour card after her first professional victory at the Murphy USA El Dorado Shootout presented by Pepsico. She ultimately finished second on the Epson Tour official money list and second in the Race for the Card, which was more than enough to earn the Gaelle Truet Rookie of the Year award. This will be Oon’s first competition in her home country since earning her card and finding her first professional victory, so it’s a good bet that she’s going to put on a show for her friends, family and fans back home.
Award Updates
There are just four events left until the CME Group Tour Championship, and the opportunities to clinch or seize the end-of-season awards are dwindling. Right now, Vu holds a slim 27-point lead over Boutier in the Rolex Player of the Year Award standings, but with Vu skipping the trip to Malaysia, Boutier has a chance to make up some ground in the race. The Frenchwoman needs just a fifth-place finish or better this week to have a chance, which – considering her recent successes – should be well within reach. Meanwhile, Hae Ran Ryu is running away with the Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year award, holding a very comfortable 266-point lead over Grace Kim. Ryu is only a few good finishes away from clinching the award, which is not a tall task for the 22-year-old who already has a win and five additional top 10s under her belt. Atthaya Thitikul is currently a runner-up for two awards, the Vare Trophy and the Aon Risk Reward Challenge, and this week may prove pivotal in her campaign for both. Thitkul is just .281 strokes behind Hyo Joo Kim in scoring average and only needs to shoot an average of 68.1945 in her remaining rounds to take the lead. With Kim skipping the Maybank Championship, Thitikul can cut into Kim’s lead if she can go low at Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club. But to win the Aon Risk Reward Challenge, which awards $1 million to the winner each year, Thitikul will have to go head-to-head with Yinwho holds a razor-thin 0.051 stroke lead in the competition.
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