The Toyota Tour is nearing the exciting conclusion of its first season and is on track towards building a sustainable platform that will help lift Malaysian professional golfers to greater heights.

After eight completed legs of the Toyota Tour with the recent Camry Cup in Forest City Golf Resort, Johor, RM1.43 million has been awarded to players out of the total RM2.2 million prize pool for the 2023 tour calendar.

The tour has attracted both seasoned professionals like Malaysia’s No 1 golfer, Gavin Green, who played in the Supra Cup at The Mines and then won the Corolla Cross Cup at Palm Garden, as well as up-and-coming youngsters who have proven to be future stars with their performance on challenging courses.

Ervin Chang, 24, who is from Kajang, currently leads the Toyota Tour Order of Merit with RM119,088 in earnings after participating in six legs of the tour.

The double gold medallist in the 2022 Hanoi Sea Games maintained his grip on the leading money list following a second-place finish in the Vios Cup at Templer Park in June. Earlier in May, Chang stunned the field by recording his first-ever professional victory at the Mirai Cup in Kuching.

After his win in Kuching, Chang said: “Toyota’s continued support for golf in Malaysia gives the top amateurs an opportunity to perform as well as prepares the professionals to take on the world.”

He is followed by seasoned professional Danny Chia with RM83,870 in tour earnings, which was contributed by his win at the opening leg of the tour at Saujana Golf & Country Club in February.

The leading lady pro in the order of merit is Aretha Pan with RM61,020. She created waves by winning the ladies category of the opening leg in Saujana, finished an incredible second place in the men’s category at the Hilux Cup in Sabah, and then won the ladies category of the Supra Cup in The Mines.

As part of UMW Toyota’s efforts to drive grassroots development, the mobility company introduced the Toyota Tour Elite Junior programme to train the next generation of golf champions. Executed with MST Golf Academy, twelve hand-picked junior talents from around the country will undergo intensive training over 15 weeks and will experience playing alongside professionals on the Toyota Tour.

“To experience what a pro golf tour player goes through, these six boys and six girls are taken through a holistic course that includes performance, technical and tournament simulation training.

“We want to educate them on how to become better golfers with better strategy, thinking and approach. That’s our main focus,” explains Chris Marrs, who is the Toyota Tour programme director for the Elite Junior Programme.

Presented by UMW Toyota Motor in partnership with Professional Golf Malaysia and MST Golf, the Toyota Tour is the premier professional golf tournament in Malaysia. The tour reflects the mobility company’s drive to push the limits in the pursuit of perfection.

The next Toyota Tour event is the Alphard Cup at Kota Seriemas Golf & Country Club, Negeri Sembilan, before the season-ending Toyota Championship in Saujana, an Asian Development Tour event which will see pros from around the region competing. Visit toyota.com.my/toyota-tour for more information.