KUALA LUMPUR, 21 December 2009 - Sime Darby Bhd, via with its wholly-owned Kuala Lumpur Golf & Country Club, demonstrates its commitment to the development of Malaysian golf when it launches a special programme called In Search of a Malaysian Champion today. Aimed at developing a home grown champion for the Maybank Malaysian Open 2010, Sime Darby intends to help push Malaysian golfers to the top of the leader board in 2010, when the prestigious championship is hosted at its newly renovated Kuala Lumpur Golf & Country Club. There has never been a local champion since the inauguration of the Malaysian Open in 1962.

As part of that commitment, six Malaysian professional golfers who will be playing in the 2010 tournament - comprising of Danny Chia, Iain Steel, S.Siva Chandran, Shaaban Hussin, Ben Leong & Airil Rizman - have been offered to participate in the programme. The players' eligibility is determined by the Malaysian Golf Association (MGA).

Under the programme, the players are entitled to utilise golfing and recreational facilities at Kuala Lumpur Golf & Country Club and will undergo a comprehensive 4-week training programme under Andrew Nicholson, the Senior Director of Instruction for IMG, which is the world's premier and most diversified sports, entertainment and media company.

This initiative is in line with the Sime Darby Group's efforts to promote sports development in the country. We hope that the participating Malaysian golf professionals will take advantage of the program which is designed to help them perform to their full potential during the upcoming Maybank Malaysian Open 2010, said Kuala Lumpur Golf & Country Club Director, Dato' Tunku Badlishah.

While access to train at the host venue will allow the six golfers to gain a competitive edge as they are able to familiarize themselves with the course setup and conditions, the programme under Andrew Nicholson will concentrate on customised plans focusing on their mental and physical conditioning such as tournament preparation and play, course management, biomechanics, short game and video analysis, added Dato' Tunku Badlishah.

Commenting on the initiative, President of the Malaysian Golf Association Datuk Robin Loh said the programme will certainly improve the level of the game of the Malaysian players and provide them with some precious home ground advantage.

With the kind of investment that the Sime Darby Group and the Kuala Lumpur Golf & Country Club have put into the programme, I am confident that the players will be well prepared with a game plan in hand, armed with a major tactical advantage having had the opportunity to study and play beforehand at the host venue, said Datuk Robin Loh.

Malaysia's top professional, Danny Chia, said the training and facilities offered to the Malaysian professionals was certainly welcome as the programme is flexible and allowed each of them to receive world class training in addition to getting to know every nuance of the tournament course.

The Malaysian team players were presented with their special membership cards today by Dato' Tunku Putra Badlishah. It was also attended by Kuala Lumpur Golf & Country Club Captain Dato' Mustafa Mohd Ali, President of the Malaysian Golf Association Datuk Robin Loh and Kuala Lumpur Golf & Country Club General Manager Mr. Ding Meng Sieng.

Since its re-opening in March 2009, the West Course at Kuala Lumpur Golf & Country Club has received numerous accolades which include the Best Course Renovation in Asia Pacific by Asian Golf Monthly and the top golf course in the country by Tee Times and Expatriate Lifestyle magazine. Eddie Adams, the green keeping consultant to the European Tour, rated the West Course as the fifth best golf course in the world. Adams was at Kuala Lumpur Golf & Country Club recently to ensure that the West Course and facilities met the stringent standards set for tournaments sanctioned by the European Tour.