Rashid leads five into Open

RASHID Ismail shot a one-under par 71 for a 146 two-day total to win the National Qualifiers at the Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club to confirm his spot at the Maybank Malaysian Open on April 14-17.
Johor born Rashid, who celebrates his 38th birthday in four days, was joined by overnight leader A. Sasar, R. Nachimuthu, Hanafiah Jamil and Akmal Tarmizee.
These local champions will play against some of the best players in the world for a prize purse of US$D 2.5 million.
Sasar, who led with a par-72, fired a 77 yesterday but still ended third. Second was Nachimuthu who had rounds of 75- 73 for a 148 total.
Hanafia (76-75), Akmal (77-74) and Nazri Zain (73-78) were involved in a three-way playoff for the fourth and fifth spots, before Nazro bowed out.
“I’m quite satisfied with the way I played as I hit the ball really well. I managed to ensure that my ball was always in position and that’s really important in order to qualify for a tournament of this scale. Hopefully I can play better than this on the actual tournament day,” said Rashid.
Maybank Malaysian Open will also feel the presence of the the top three Malaysians on the Asian Tour Order of Merit Danny Chia who is a Maybank Ambassador, Iain Steel and Ben Leong.
Shaaban Hussin, also a Maybank Ambassador, will play on the invitation of the title sponsors.
The Malaysian Golf Association (MGA) also announced the exemptions of three local pros M. Sasidaran, S. Sivachandran and Airil Rizman for the tournament.
"The MGA has chosen to exempt Airil, Sasidaran and Sivachandran as we feel each one of them have showed in more ways than one, their passion and dedication towards the game,” said MGA president Datuk Robin Loh.
The MGA also confirmed the names of six local amateurs who will be competing at the Maybank Malaysian Open. The six are Azman Basharudin, Kenneth de Silva, Hisyam Majid, Jeremiah Kim, Chan Tuck Soon and Gavin Kyle Green.
SELECTED Final Round Scores: 146 Rashid Ismail 75-71; 148 R. Nachimuthu 75-73; 149 A. Sasar 72-77; 151 Hanafia Jamil 76-75, Akhmal Tarmizee 77-74, Nazri Zain 73-78 (lost in playoff).