Airil's Column

AIRIL'S JOURNAL

SINGAPORE MASTERS

Simply unlucky! That was what I have got to say about my week in the Singapore Masters. I stuck to my game plan and grinded all the way but it was not good enough to compete on the weekend. The tournament was played over 2 courses, Masters and Classic. The latter was supposed to be easier. I started on the Masters course and shot 69. It was pretty good since I was 2 over after 9 holes. I played solid to shoot 5 under on the back 9.
The second day was not going to be easy, that was what I was expecting. True enough, I really struggled with my shots and the putting really made it worse. The greens were unpredictable because they were double cut and more the less uprooted. It was not a surprised that the average score on that course was a lot higher on the second day as compared to the first day. Fifteen players shot 5 under or better as compared to only 3 on the second day. I shot 75 for an even par total and missed the cut by 2.
Liang Weng Chong played solid golf to seal the title as almost everyone in contention looked as if they were throwing it away. My heart goes to Iain Steel for trying very hard only to bow out in the playoff. It was the best performance by a Malaysian in a joint sanctioned event. He showed that it can be done if we do our homework right. I skipped TCL in Sanya due to exhaustion. My next event is the Motorola Ria Bintan Championship in Indonesia. Till then.

Motorola Ria Bintan

It is not everyweek that I can play golf to make a living at really good golf courses. Well, this week is definitely one of those weeks. Ria Bintan Golf Resort is truly majestic. It sets the bench mark for resorts in South East Asia. The resort as a whole is magnificent with breathtaking views and crystal clear sea water. You just can't easily find it in this part of the world. The course is designed by Gary Player and it maximises the beautiful views it is blessed with. The fairways are nicely trimmed to diffrentiate the first cut and the rough. The greens were really smooth and quick. It is really easy to have these conditions if you have the essentials to look after this masterpiece.
Enough about that, I played rather well last week. I shot 69 69 70 71 to finish 7th and achieve my second top 10 on the Asian Tour for the year. I am really excited about it but at the same time believing I could have done better. I should have made more putts and really challenged the top spot.
So many factors contributed to my feat actually. One of them was I got a friend to caddy for me for the week. He was a national amateur player and now looking for something else. His knowledge was really helpful. My fitting manager also flew down to watch me play, well, actually he wanted to meet up with friend who happened to be paired with me. He just turned up to surprise us!
Reason no 3 must be the excellent practice facilities there. I just love spending the whole day working on my game and enjoying it. The staffs at the resort were really helpful.
My next outing will be in 2 weeks where i will play the Volvo China Open and BMW Championship in Shanghai. Right after that is Pine Valley Championship in Beijing and Maekyung Open In Seoul. It will be a hectic month and I hope I really can perform my best. So till then

NAME	AIRIL RIZMAN BIN ZAHARI
AGE	29 YEARS OLD
COUNTRY OF BIRTH	MALAYSIA
EDUCATION	BACHELOR OF SCIENCE (HUMAN DEVELOPMENT) UNIVERSITY PUTRA MALAYSIA