KUALA LUMPUR: A rejuvenated Shahriffuddin Ariffin will bid to reclaim the PKNS Selangor Masters title, which he last won in 2022, when the Asian Development Tour (ADT) event gets underway tomorrow.
The 24-year-old ended a frustrating run of seven straight missed cuts last week by finishing a creditable joint second at the Nam A Bank Vietnam Masters, the fourth ADT leg.
This comes just in time for the next showdown at the Seri Selangor Golf Club, where Shahriffuddin claimed his second ADT victory two years ago.
He became only the second local winner in the tournament's history, following Ben Leong's victory in the inaugural edition in 2008.
Hopes are high on the 59-strong Malaysian contingent to keep the trophy at home. Galven Green has also returned from Vietnam fresh off a morale-boosting fourth-place finish.
Galven was the second-best performing local in the previous edition last November, finishing tied for 10th.
The other notable locals in the fray are Ervin Chang, last year's top local finisher, former Asian Tour winners Danny Chia and Nicholas Fung, Paul San, Amir Nazri Jailani and Khavish Varadan.
They will compete against some of the region's rising stars, including Taiwan's defending champion Ho Yu Cheng, Pakistan's in-form Ahmad Baig, already a two-time ADT winner this season, former ADT Order of Merit winner Naoki Sekito of Japan and Kammalas Namuangruk.
Also in action are three-time European Tour winner Marcus Fraser of Australia, who won the 2016 Maybank Championship and Angelo Que of the Philippines, a three-time Asian Tour winner.
The tournament retains a US$175,000 (RM826,000) purse, with the winner set to take home US$30,625 (RM144,000).
The locals will have plenty to play for, as the top Malaysian will be rewarded with an additional RM10,000 payout.
Last year's edition saw Yu Cheng win with an even-par 280 total for a one-shot victory over Australia's Deyen Lawson and Thailand's Runchanapong Youprayong. Both Lawson and Runchanapong are in the field as well.