09 March 2015
Kuala Lumpur: CIMB Group today announced its sponsorship of Malaysia’s top woman golfer, 21 year old Kelly Tan. Kelly is one of Malaysia’s most prolific sporting figures and is the only Malaysian with membership to the LPGA Tour, the richest and most competitive ladies tour in the world.
Speaking at the press conference held at Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club, Tengku Dato’ Zafrul Abdul Aziz, Group Chief Executive of CIMB Group said, “Kelly Tan is a winner. And we’re very pleased she’s agreed to become one of our ambassadors. She competes on the global stage and represents a lot of what the CIMB brand stands for.”
Hailing from Batu Pahat, Kelly Tan started playing golf at age 12, and by the time she was 20 years old, she had won the Malaysian Open three times. As an amateur, she represented Malaysia in key golf events such as SEA Games, Asian Games and the World Amateur Championships. Kelly then prevailed at the grueling LPGA Tour qualifiers and obtained her Tour Card at the Final Qualifying Tournament for the 2014 LPGA Tour season. She turned professional right after obtaining her card. Kelly finished a credible 89th in her first season on the LPGA Tour, comfortably keeping her card for the 2015 season. She is also ranked 43rd on the IGF’s Olympic ranking for women.
“I’m thrilled to be wearing the CIMB logo. The CIMB brand is strong one, domestically and internationally, and is one that has become synonymous with golf. I really look forward to a successful partnership,” said Kelly Tan. “CIMB’s most visible brand ambassador is Nicol David, who is absolutely at the top of her game. It’s a good target for me to work towards,” she quipped.
CIMB Group has been involved in the sport of golf for the last 5 years. The CIMB Classic, now in its sixth year is a PGA TOUR sanctioned event and the region’s No.1 golf tournament staged at the end of October every year in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The CIMB Niaga Indonesian Masters is Indonesia’s premier golf event staged at the end of April; sanctioned by the Asian Tour, is in its fourth year. The CIMB Junior Golf Development programme is also in its sixth year and has involved 184 junior golfers from across ASEAN.
