Maan to take on champ Els in Super Tour opener
By Robert Soelistyo
CIMANGGIS, West Java (JP): Local golfing hope Maan Naasim, who tops the domestic money list, will challenge defending champion Ernie Els from South Africa in the opening round of the Johnnie Walker Super Tour tees off at Emerarlda Golf and Country Club here this morning.
"I realize it will be a daunting job to try to crack a world beater like Ernie. But playing at home on a course I've been practicing on for the last seven days hopefully will help me play better," Maan told The Jakarta Post.
Maan, who tops the national Order of Merit after winning two major events and finishing as runner-up in two other competitions, was named to represent Indonesia after his excellent performances in 1997. He, together with Kasiadi from Yani Golf Club in Surabaya, took part in four of the 27 Asian PGA Tour events.
Maan was drawn to play with Els, Ian Woosnam (Wales) and Hong Chia-Yuh (Taiwan); they will tee off at 9.30 a.m. Nick Faldo (England), Jesper Parnevik (Sweden), Boonchu Ruangkit (Thailand) and Felix Casas (the Philippines) make up the other group and are scheduled to tee off 10 minutes later.
Els, Faldo, Woosnam and Parvenik, who have just finished playing in the Million Dollar Challenge in Sun City, South Africa on Sunday, went directly to Australia and then on a special flight to Jakarta.
Prime form
Despite such a long journey, the 32-year-old Els is reportedly feeling fine as he prepares to defend his Super Tour title at Emeralda this morning.
In the space of six days, the Tour will take the eight golfers on a whirlwind tour, playing four rounds of golf in four different nations. The player with the best aggregate score following the usual 72-hole strokeplay format will be declared the winner.
Commencing at Emeralda, 35 kilometers south of Jakarta, the tour takes off for Panya Indra Golf and Country Club in Bangkok for round two, then to the Bluewater Resort, Bocacay, the Philippines, with the champion being crowned at the Ta Shee Golf Club in Taipei, Taiwan.
World-number-three Els has been in a victorious vein of form ever since his Super Tour win last year. He started 1997 with a victory at the Johhnie Walker Classic in Queensland, Australia and then went on to claim his second U.S. Open at the Congressional Country Club.
Within a week of becoming U.S. Open champion, he won the Buick Classic for the second consecutive year and became the first South African to hold the world No. 1 position since the world rankings began.
In October he produced a true captain's performance to inspire South Africa to its first Alfred Dunhill Cup triumph and recently finished two strokes ahead of Tiger Wood to clinch the PGA Grand Slam.
This year's Super Tour is shaping up to be yet another captivating tournament. First place in the Tour is worth US$100,000 with the runner-up receiving $65,000. And to make it more unique in terms of collecting cash prizes, no player goes home empty-handed with eighth position worth $10,000.
The Super Tour is one of the many ways the scotch whisky company supports the growth and development of international golf. Other major golfing events supported by the company include the Ryder Cup, the Johnnie Walker Classic -- the 1998 event to be staged at Phuket, Thailand in January -- and the Johnnie Walker International Club Championships.