KUALA LUMPUR: Professional golfers Alyaa Abdulghany and Natasha Andrea Oon will represent Malaysia at the inaugural US$750,000 Simone Asia Pacific Cup in Jakarta from Aug 18-20.
The tournament, to be held at the Pondok Indah Golf Course, boasts an illustrious 40-woman field starring major players Lydia Ko of New Zealand and South Korea's Kim Hyo Joo.
Other big names include six-time LPGA Tour winner Ryu So Yeon and Lee Bo Mee, who won 21 times on the Japan LPGA Tour, both from South Korea, and American Yealimi Noh, a member of their Solheim Cup squad last year.
Both Alyaa and Natasha will have plenty to play for as the nation's pride will be at stake in the 54-hole stroke play event.
The Malaysians will also pair up for the team event, involving 15 other Asia Pacific nations, for the US$250,000 purse.
Alyaa and Natasha were teammates when Malaysia won a silver at the 2019 Philippines Sea Games.
Alyaa, who turned professional last year, is plying her trade on the Epson Tour, a developmental circuit for the LPGA Tour.
Rookie professional Natasha, meanwhile, will cherish an opportunity to tee it up in Jakarta as part of her preparation for the Stage Two event of the LPGA Tour Qualifying School in October.
She was exempted from Stage One in August as she was among the top-five collegiate golfers in the Golfstat and Golfweek/Sagarin rankings.
The Asia Pacific Cup is part of the Ladies Asian Tour (LAT) Series, which teed off with its season-opening DB Group Korea Women's Open in June.
Other tournaments include the Hana Bank Group Championship in Korea in September and the Hana Financial Group Singapore Women's Open in December.
