KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 4 — Gavin Green can put no foot wrong in his young career as a professional golfer and he now has a tournament named after him called the Gavin Green-SportExcel Junior Amateur to be held at TPC Kuala Lumpur from December 18-20.

At the tender age of 24, Green is already Malaysia’s best ever golfer.

He is currently ranked 208 in the world, having won the Asian Tour Order of Merit in 2017 and played a full season on the European Tour finishing in 84th place in the Race to Dubai standings.

He made the cut at the British Open on his debut and almost won his first European Tour title in Prague in August, eventually finishing in third place.

With the season over, Green is back in Malaysia for some rest and recreation and working tirelessly with SportsExcel executive director Sivananda Chinnadurai to make his dream a reality.

“I’ve always wanted to host a junior tournament and I feel this is the right time as I’ve got plenty of help from SportExcel,” said Green when met at TPC Kuala Lumpur this afternoon.

“There are many talented kids out there who need guidance and encouragement and I will love to find them and help them out, because you never know how good you can be until you take the plunge and turn professional.

“I attribute my brother’s and my strong base skills to having honed them during the junior days. The confidence I gained from playing and winning followed me throughout my amateur career and now when I’m a full-fledged professional.”

Gavin was a star golfer at the University of New Mexico (UNM) where he became a three-time All-American. He was named the Mountain West Men’s Golfer of the Year from 2013-15 and claimed three tournament wins as a senior.

He shattered UNM’s record for career wins with eight, which is three more than the previous record, and becoming just the second UNM golfer to be named the Mountain West’s best two years in a row.

When asked what the kids can expect from him during the competition, he jokingly said, “I’ll be making them nervous by standing next to them when they hit.”

“I’m kidding. I’m coming with my physio, Dr. Micaiah Meuer, who will spend time with the older kids teaching them about nutrition, strength training, off season workouts and crucial things like warm up stretches.

“I’ll be conducting multiple clinics and spending time with the kids. Other than that I’ll be on the buggy following and watching the kids play.”

Response for the competition has been overwhelming but Sivananda said they won’t turn down anyone. Those who can’t compete can still participate in the clinics.

“We’ve had to turn down around 25 kids as we currently have 68 girls and 160 boys,” said Sivananda.

“As there are many of them we will do separate sessions so every kid can have a chance to learn from Gavin,” he added.

SportExcel has been around for 27 years and is focused on junior development for golf, squash, bowling, cycling, shooting, cricket, swimming, artistic and rhythmic gymnastics, tennis, sepak takraw and taekwondo.

They organise an average of 15 golf tournaments a year and it’s patron is Tunku Imran Tuanku Ja’afar.