KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian golfer Natasha Andrea Oon continued her impressive rise in women’s golf by breaking into the top 300 of the world ranking for the first time.
This is following her runner-up finish at the Epson Tour’s Twin Bridges Championship in New York on Sunday (July 23) after coming up short against American Jenny Bae in the five-hole sudden-death playoff.
Starting the year in the 821st spot, the 21-year-old has raced up the ranking ladder with a string of fine performances on the Epson Tour to emerge as the top Malaysian woman golfer in a career-high 282nd position, with an average point of 0.40 points, thus eclipsing Olympian Kelly Tan, who is in the 333rd spot.
Kelly collected 0.33 points while Alyaa Abdulghany, who is in the 516th position with 0.16 average points, is the third-best Malaysian woman golfer.
“I learned a lot from this experience. I’m just really grateful to be in this position and am hopeful that I will be able to pull through one day,” Natasha said in a statement.
The San Jose State University alumnus, who turned professional in June last year, has now chalked up seven top-10 finishes, including four runner-up achievements in 13 starts on the Epson Tour this year.
The Epson Tour is the official qualifying circuit for the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) Tour, where the top 10 players following the season-ending Epson Tour Championship in October will earn coveted LPGA Tour cards for 2024.-Bernama
