COMMENTBy Jugjet Singh
jugjet@nst.com.my
THE Malaysian Prime Minister and his deputy loves it, and so does a stunning 20-year-old six-footer, a sex-maniac, portly businessmen and people from all walks of life who drive their own cars, but have a driver when they are on the greens.
For those who are in love with golf, it is life, and somehow, the passion to hit a small ball into 18 holes makes them go gaga, and they would dream abut the next game right after signing in their score cards.
They are no nut cases, as the industry is worth billions, what with 200 golf course in a small country like Malaysia, which dwarfs the number of hockey and football stadiums.
Tiger Woods, Vijay Singh, Anthony Kang, Gerrry Norquist, Lee Westwood; are just a small number of top golfers who have played and won in Malaysia.
The Malaysian Open has never failed to attract a stream of stars, and many winners have then gone on to become house-hold names like Lee Westwood and Vijay Singh.
And with Sime Darby, golf is being raised to an even higher plateau in a country that has yet to produce a Malaysian Open champion, and is still struggling to beat Thailand, Philippines and Indonesia at the Sea Games level.
Sime Darby has renovated the Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Course from a drab and tired looking venue to an exciting marvel which will be tested to the limit beginning Thursday when it hosts the Malaysian Open.
And after that the KLGCC’s resilience will be tested by the best 50 Ladies PGA members, which includes Michelle Wie.
She is only 20-years-old, six feet one inch tall, and has started to make an impact in the LPGA.
Wie made her rushed presence felt at the Sime Darby Convention centre in Kuala Lumpur yesterday, where she flew in from Singapore after finishing joint-15th with a four-under 284 (72-73-69-70).
After a little rest, she was whizzed to the Convention Centre to confirm her attendance in the inaugural LPGA leg of Malaysia in October.
When a journalist asked her how she felt being in Malaysia for the first time, the Hawaiian-born said she only saw the route from her hotel to the press conference venue, but she loved the way buildings intermingled with pockets of greenery.
A frenzy of photographers were waiting for the long-legged beauty to swing, and she actually teed-off from a specially built platform outside the Sime Darby Convention centre.
She carried the ball just a few feet away from the photographers lenses, over a busy road, and about 260 yards into the Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club greens.
She them exclaimed: “Oh my, I felt like I was going to hit one of you! (the photographers). But there was never a doubt, among the crowd, that Wie was going to misfire.
She then obliged autograph hunters, and left a lasting impression when she was whizzed to the airport for a long flight back home.
And at her official website, her introduction said: “She decide she wanted to become a pro-golfer after watching Tiger Woods play. Wie has pictures of Tiger all over her bedroom and also hopes to go to Stanford University, just like Tiger...
