Crazy rich Malaysians

It's time to change things up. Two events ago, in Shanghai, we lost a four-shot lead in the final five holes and then failed to win a five-hole sudden-death playoff. We followed the Buick with a BMW finish, where all four of our outrights finished inside the top 10. All FOUR! The next stop on the fall Asia tour takes us 2,000 miles south of Korea to Malaysia for the Maybank Championship. It's the richest event on the Far East fall schedule, offering $3 million; our winner will receive $450,000. Seventy-eight women are competing in a four-round, no-cut event. We haven't seen a cut or a full field in seven weeks. I hope new leadership at the LPGA views the product in a similar way the PGA TOUR is evaluating theirs—run great, compelling events, and everything else will take care of itself. Moving on...

The Maybank is a new event on the LPGA schedule, playing just its third edition. Our host venue, Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club, is no stranger to professional golf. KLG&CC has an East and West Course. The West Course is the championship layout and hosted the DP World Tour (European Tour) seven times between 2006-2015 for the Maybank Malaysian Open. I’ll bet many of you remember the PGA TOUR coming to Kuala Lumpur for the CIMB Classic held from 2013-2018. Justin Thomas won two years in a row (2015-16) on the West Course. To round out the professional trifecta, even the LPGA has a history at KLG&CC. From 2010-2017, the ladies played the Sime Darby LPGA in Kuala Lumpur. The previous two Maybank Championships posted an average winning score of 22 under par, with major champions Rouning Yin (2024, -23) and Celine Boutier (2023, -21) taking home the two trophies.

Keep an eye on the countdown timer, we still start on Wednesday nights!

Maybank Championship starts in...

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Those winning tallies stress an emphasis on scoring this week. KLG&CC is a par 72 layout covering 6,536 yards. A true target test, the course has 92(!) bunkers and 13 holes with water in play. Most may think of Malaysia as a flat island in the South Pacific; it is not. The topography of this setting is also part of the challenge. Players will take a 4.6-mile walk across 18 holes and climb 528' while they do it. Bermudagrass greens have not presented much of a test the last two years, as the final two top 10s have gained an average of three strokes on the field with their flatstick. More on that in the winning player profile paragraphs. Eighteen of the 27 2025 winners are competing alongside sixteen of the top 25 in the Rolex World Rankings. Five of the top 10 players in the world are in attendance, and why not, as I mentioned in the opening, this is the richest event overseas in autumn.

We've seen some wet weather at the Maybank for the last two years. If the current forecast holds, the women will remain dry. Just a scattering of storms is in the forecast for Sunday afternoon local time. It will feel like it rained as the daily high temperatures climb to the mid-90s. How's your humidity? Exactly, and with wind forecasts in the single digits, not much relief from the breeze. Just three events remain for the women to get inside the top 60 on the season-long CME points list. From Malaysia, we head to another limited field event in Japan and then The ANNIKA in Florida. The penultimate event of the season has a larger field with a cut but get those points while you can because a bunch of anxious women are waiting in the US to play in Tampa.

Tournament officials have options at KLG&CC to move tee boxes and alter hole playability. An average of 14 under par was needed to crack the top 10 the last two years. It's a shame this event happens overnight. Eight of the last nine holes feature water and have incredible scoring opportunities. Holes 14, 16, and 17 are short par 4s with multiple tee box options, and the final test is an uphill par 5. Remember the nine-hole playoff Boutier won over Thitikul in 2023! Speaking of our betting favorite Jeeno, Thitikul has two runner-up finishes at the Maybank. In 2025, the world's number one player has 12 top 10s in 18 starts and hasn't finished worse than second since August! Needless to say, she will play a significant role in the outcome of this event. Unfortunately, at +450, Jeeno is just not a betting option. Based upon our recent run, I do have a couple of excellent outrights to tail. It's tough to do better than all four finishing in the top 10, but a win is a win, and it’s time to take home another trophy.

History repeats itself

Two previous Maybank Championships do not provide enough handicapping information to predict a winning card. At RTL, we love to dig deeper, and this is one of those “extra edge” weeks on tour. Looking through historic leaderboards across three tours over the past 20+ years, there are significant trends. Justin Thomas, Lee Westwood, and Hideki Matsuyama have all had considerable success at KLG&CC. Each of them are great iron players. Inbee Park, Cristie Kerr, Lexi Thompson, and Shanshan Feng (twice) won during the previous LPGA stint in Malaysia. In the seven years the DP men played KLG&CC’s West Course, the average winning score was 16 under par. The PGA TOUR raised the average winning score to 22 under par in its six trips to Kuala Lumpur. The women average 16 under par in their eight editions of the Sime Darby.

If we are going to start with scoring, then studying the recent fall leaderboards is the place to begin. Since the LPGA returned from Europe and restarted in Portland, the average winning score for seven events is 21 under par! Five of the seven were 20 under par or better. By watching week after week, we have a very good idea of who is putting circles on their scorecard. Two measures I love to really show scoring separation ability are how many rounds in the 60s and strokes gained scoring. To win this event, you will need to average 5.5 under par for four days. Many pundits look at scoring averages, but those can hide the true trend. We need players who can spike in these fall events. A player who can shoot two rounds under 65 in the same event. Trust me, that doesn't happen as much as you would think.

Only three women scored four rounds in the 60s at last year's Maybank. Find the player(s) who can string together four solid scoring rounds, and you're going to win. The higher your frequency for scoring in the 60s, the better your chances are to win in one of these birdiefests. Scoring stems from ball striking. Accuracy reigns over length at KLG&CC, so let’s talk about approach play next. Eleven of the 18 approaches are under 150 yards. The best players in that scoring zone with their wedges and short irons are the focus. Again, the recent events have also placed a spotlight on this skill. Stick with the fall's best iron players and you will contend. To shorten the list of contenders, RTL also compared each player’s ability to hit GIRs from off the fairway. We need birdie chances, and the more GIRs you secure, the better. The last two top 10s in Malaysia averaged hitting 80% of their GIRs.

Calling all Bermudagrass putters. The players can make putts here. The contenders are averaging 23 sub-par scores per tournament. Scoring is the coordination of proper approach play and excellent putting. I love to look at the best putts per GIR players on Bermuda. Who converts when it counts. Turns out those same players also make their six-footers to save par. I'm leaning heavily on approach proximity and putting. Believe it or not, when you count all of these key factors, we get a very tight list. With 92 bunkers and plenty of terrain changes, saving strokes around the green is a concern. The leaders will not have many up and down opportunities, but if and when they do, they must save the scorecard. KLG&CC will also present a bunch of scrambling scoring chances to close the round. Fourteen, 16, and 17 are short par 4s. A drive and a pitch is all it will take to set up a birdie (or better).

Of the par categories, the last two leaderboards were filled with par 5 killers and par 3(!) aficionados. That is correct, we are going to skip par 4s and focus on the correlation between these two scoring groups. It's unique to the Maybank, and that is part of what makes this venue special. The proper KLG&CC skill set requires approach accuracy, timely putting, and, when put together, record scoring. We had four (of four) outrights in the top 10 at the BMW. The runner-up in a five-hole sudden-death playoff the week before. We have been all over these leaderboards. Let's ride another carefully constructed card all the way to the winner's circle.

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Outright winners - Maybank Championship

The 2023 Maybank winner, Celine Boutier will play a role on Sunday in this edition as well. Boutier's second start here was a T12, and she just finished third at the BMW. Many of these Asia events require approach play and scoring, which falls right into Boutier's bank. Celine is ranked fourth in the field for recording rounds in the 60s and sixth in strokes gained approach. Boutier is also third in the field for par 5 scoring and fourth in par 3 average! No wonder she has won here. Top three in strokes gained total at the BMW, watch her success at KLG&CC continue. Celine Boutier +2200 (DK)

She made 21 birdies at the BMW and finished third. Her third straight top 10, and A Lim Kim finished fourth in strokes gained total in South Korea. Known for her power, Kim has closed her last event with four rounds in the 60s. Ten straight rounds with under-par scorecards, A Lim is another player who is competing exceptionally well and has the results to prove it. Seventh in the field for total driving and fifth for BoB%. Kim puts the ball in play and scores. Her ability to bomb it in the fairway is a cheat code. Fifth in par 5 scoring, she will improve on her third place in the BMW. A Lim Kim +3500 (DK)

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