The LPGA has announced a return to Malaysia in 2023 for the inaugural Maybank Championship, which will take place Oct. 26-29 at Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club. The event replaces the Taiwan event that was canceled.
The 78-player field will compete for a $3 million purse, one of the largest non-major championship purses on the schedule. Maybank is the fourth-largest bank by asset in Southeast Asia and boasts 42,000 employees worldwide.
“The LPGA is excited to bring women’s professional golf back to Malaysia for the first time in six years thanks to Maybank’s incredible support,” said LPGA Commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan in a statement.
“The LPGA and Maybank’s shared values around elevating and empowering women make this an important partnership for us in this region of the world. Maybank is further demonstrating their commitment to women and our athletes by providing the largest prize fund of our Asian events and a world-class environment.”
Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club hosted the Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia from 2010-2017, which included winners Inbee Park, Lexi Thompson, Jessica Korda and Shanshan Feng, who was a two-time winner of the event. Cristie Kerr earned the 20th victory of her career in the event’s final playing.
“Over the years, Maybank Championship has successfully achieved its main intent of elevating ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) on a global stage in sports,” said Dato’ Khairussaleh Ramli Group President and Chief Executive Officer of Maybank during the launch at KLGCC.
“Now, we see that the way forward in the evolution is to champion inclusivity of the sport in the region.”
The new event is part of a four-tournament fall Asian swing that includes stops in China, South Korea and Japan. The event that was scheduled to take place in China during the LPGA’s spring Asian swing was also canceled.
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