Els set for Malaysia debut

Last updated: 13th November 2012

Reigning British Open champion Ernie Els is the latest big name to confirm his attendance at the Iskandar Johor Open.

The 'Big Easy' will make his debut at the Asian Tour finale, set for December 13-16 at Horizon Hills Golf and Country Club, Johor Bahru.

Els has also enjoyed a successful 2012. The 6ft 3' South African is one of the most successful golfers in the history of the game. This year he came from behind to win the 141st Open Championship in Royal Lytham & St Annes GC and finished ninth in the US Open Championship and tied second at the Volvo Golf Championship. He was also runner-up at the recent WGC-HSBC Champions in China.

Els, nicknamed the "Big Easy", has more than 60 victories worldwide including two US Opens, two Open Championships, and a record seven World Match Play titles. Els spent a record 758 weeks in the top-10 of the Official World Golf Ranking. He won The European Tour Order of Merit in 2003 and again in 2004. Els was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2011.

"I am looking forward to playing in the Iskandar Johor Open. I'm doing a couple of golf courses around the corner from there and it'll be a good time to be down in Malaysia," said Els.

"Middle of December, I'm not going to be playing a lot of golf. I'll have a bit of a holiday after the event but the start of the year will be just around the corner. I like to kick start 2013 with the last event of the year, so to speak and it'll be very nice," added Els.

Commenting on the growth of golf in Asia, he added, "I played in Singapore in 1993 for the first time and since then, you've had a major champion coming out of Asia, the growth of the game has been unbelievable and the number of golf courses has been built is unbelievable. It's a very popular sport over here."