Ju comes to SPGA's rescue

He breezed in like a breath of fresh air. In fact, a saviour.

A last-minute pullout by a sponsor left the Singapore Professional Golfer's Association's (SPGA) seventh local tournament for the year in a limbo.

But Ju Kai Meng, a golf fanatic who plays five times a week, came to the rescue with a sponsorship deal that will see the SPGA Golf Series Champions Golf event take place today at Batam's Palm Spring Golf and Country Club.

Ju, 58, the managing director of Sinanju Tankers Pte Ltd, made the goodwill gesture as he feels golf is a sport that Singapore can do well in.

Said Ju, who is also MD of Champions Golf at Bukit Timah: "The recent gold medal showing of our men's team at the SEA Games shows that we have the potential to be a regional power in golf.

"And one way of doing that is to allow our golfers to play in tournaments. Although the SPGA event is a professional one, there is a category for amateurs, and I hope more youngsters will step forward to compete."

The event received a further boost when Lam Chih Bing signed up for the tournament. Once Singapore's No. 1, he has cut down on his playing time due to his full-time job.

Lam has to contend with pros such as Mitchell Slorach, Choo Tze Huang, Koh Dengshan, Johnson Poh, Quincy Quek, Jonathan Woo, Scott Barr and Zaw Moe in the $25,000 event.