Lying Out Of Bounds

The Malaysian Open Rests Peacefully on a Bed of Utter Indifference

- Roger Rodrigo

February 8, 2015 was a joyous date for Indian Anirban Lahiri who scored a final round four-under 68 to beat Austrian Bernd Wiesberger by one stroke to win the 53rd Malaysian Open at the Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club.

It will also notoriously be penned in as the last time the Malaysian Open was staged. After more than half a century, the National Open has disappeared from the horizon.

The reasons why this happened is still murky though the grapevine indicates that a dispute arose between the tournament’s custodians, the Malaysian Golf Association (MGA) and the promoters, GlobalOne in the Maybank sponsored event.

It was a case of MGA’s dissatisfaction with GlobalOne for reasons as clear as a blind shot to a hidden green. Whether it was a kind of chess game by MGA to bump off the promoters in favour of another party was part of the story going around. If indeed it was such a move, it backfired as long-time sponsors of the Malaysian Open, Maybank decided to stay with the promoters. As a result of the rift, Maybank saw the opportunity of running its own flagship event and thus, the Maybank Championship was born in 2016.