Top names confirmed for Malaysia

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Camilo Villegas, Vijay Singh and Brandt Snedeker have confirmed their participation in this year’s CIMB Asia Pacific Classic.

Camilo Villegas, one of golf’s most popular and charismatic characters, has confirmed his participation at this year’s CIMB Asia Pacific Classic, Malaysia, to be staged at The MINES Resort & Golf Club from October 27-30.

Nicknamed ‘Spiderman’ because of his unique way of reading the greens , Villegas won back-to-back FedExCup tournaments in 2008 – The BMW Championship and THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola, en route to rounding off a hugely successful season.

Last year the 29-year-old Colombian won his third PGA TOUR title, clinching the Honda Classic.

This season he has secured four top-10s and was in contention for the FedEx Cup until the BMW Championships at Cog Hill Golf and Country Club, Illinois.

Villegas will arrive in Kuala Lumpur with the spotlight focused squarely on him, just as it does wherever he travels. And with this, he will start the US$6.1 million tournament as one of the players to watch.

Joining Villegas at The MINES will be, among others, Vijay Singh and Brandt Snedeker.

Singh’s appearance at the CIMB Asia Pacific Classic, Malaysia will be warmly welcomed by Malaysian golf fans. Vijay has deep roots in Malaysia and has himself won the 2008 FedEx Cup. On the back of a hugely successful 2011 season, Vijay, who resides in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, has over 50 career wins and will certainly be one of the more experienced hands in the field come October.

Snedeker, the 2007 PGA TOUR Rookie of the Year, beat Luke Donald in a sudden-death playoff in 2011 for The Heritage title at Harbour Town Golf Links in Hilton Head in South Carolina in April. In that tournament, Snedeker shot a 7-under-par 64 in the last round to come back from six shots to tie Luke Donald and set-up the playoff, in which Snedeker subsequently won.

In this season’s FedExCup Playoffs, Snedeker posted two third-place finishes – at The Barclays and The Deutsche Bank Championship.

Former US Open and Masters champion Angel Cabrera and 2009 British Open champion Stewart Cink, as well as CIMB Asia Pacific Classic, Malaysia defending champion Ben Crane, will also be in the field at The MINES.

Effendy Shahul Hamid, Head, Group Marketing and Communications, CIMB Group said they were pleased with the momentum going into the tournament at the end of October.

“Things are on track and shaping up nicely for the tournament at the end of October. The inclusion of Camilo Villegas, Brandt Snedeker and Vijay Singh speaks volumes for the profile of the CIMB Asia Pacific Classic. We look forward to hosting the highest quality field to play in the ASEAN region in 2011.”

The CIMB Asia Pacific Classic, Malaysia is Southeast Asia’s biggest and richest tournament, carrying a prize purse of US$6.1 million. It features a field of 48 – 30 players from the PGA TOUR, 10 from the Asian Tour, two Malaysians and the remainder being sponsors’ exemptions.

The winner walks away with US$1.3 million.

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