Four pillars of The European Tour, Martin Kaymer, Rory McIlroy, Louis Oosthuizen and the new Masters Champion, Charl Schwartzel, came face to face with Kuala Lumpur’s own ‘twin towers’ ahead of this week’s Maybank Malaysian Open.
Kaymer, Oosthuizen and Schwartzel, three of The European Tour’s four reigning Major Champions, were joined by McIlroy, the Northern Irishman who led the Masters Tournament for three rounds, at the iconic Petronas Towers in the heart of the Malaysian capital today.
The quartet headline the strongest field assembled in the history of the Maybank Malaysian Open, which this year celebrates its 50th anniversary.
South African Schwartzel, proudly wearing the Green Jacket he won at Augusta National, joined Open Champion and compatriot Oosthuizen and German World Number One Kaymer, the US PGA Champion, as holder of one of golf’s four main prizes on Sunday.
He said: “I think this is the strongest field the Malaysian Open has had. I’m looking forward to this week. Whenever I enter a golf tournament I try to play my best and I will this week to see if I can win this one as well.
“Obviously last week was such a big week. It’s still so difficult to take it all in. Maybe next week when I’m at home I’ll sit and watch the highlights and reflect on last week. I’m just quite a happy guy right now.”
Kaymer said: “We have even more world ranking points with Charl winning last week, which is nice. It was huge for European golf. We’ve won the last four Majors and that’s fantastic. There are many European Tour players on the world ranking in the top ten and top 15. It’s good to see.”
Oosthuizen said: “It is great to have three Majors Champions and the World Number One playing here. It only makes the tournament bigger.”
McIlroy added: “We’ve got three Major Champions here which is very exciting and a host of other great players so it looks as though it is going to be a great tournament.
“I feel as if I am playing really well and I showed that last week at Augusta. I’m looking forward to getting back on the golf course and shooting some good scores.”
