Golf caravan arrives in Malaysia with 13 Indians including Lahiri

The professional golf caravan moves to Kuala Lumpur and with it Anirban Lahiri and SSP Chawrasia arrived into the Malaysian capital to join a dozen other Indians, into one of the biggest co-sanctioned events between Asian and European Tours.

Both SSP Chawrasia and Lahiri had a nice re-union of sorts with the Indian players at the Saujana Golf and Country Resort, which hosts the US $ 3 million Maybank Malaysian Championships this week. Joining Lahiri and Chawrasia, the two Hero Indian Open champions, who are exempt on European Tour till end-2018, will be They 13 Indians a mix of youth and experience and representative of last 20 years of Indian professional golf.

The Indians here this week include Jeev Milkha Singh, Arjun Atwal and Jyoti Randhawa, generally referred to as the "Big Three" of Indian golf, followed by Lahiri, Shiv Kapur, Gaganjeet Bhullar, Rahil Gangjee and Chiragh Kumar and the latest lot of Rashid Khan, S Chikkarangappa and Shubhankar Sharma. There is also Mukesh Kumar, who at 51, has been one of the most dominant golfers on Indian domestic scene. He won his first Asian Tour event late last year.

The high-quality field this week at the event, which is co-sanctioned by Asian and European Tours, also includes two Masters winners, Charl Schwartzel (2011) and Danny Willett, who defends his Green Jacket this April. The top Asian Tour names other than Indians include Wang Jeunghun of Korea, Scot Hend of Australia, Thongchai Jaidee, Kiradech Aphinbarnarat, Prom Meesawat and Wu Ashun.

The leading European names include Masters winners, Willett and Schwartzel besides Lee Westwood, Tommy Fleetwood, Alex Levy, Peter Uihlein and Matteo Manassero among others.