Haze or not, LPGA Malaysia will tee off

From left: Lydia Ko of New Zealand, defending champion Feng Shanshan of China, Sime Darby chairman Tun Musa Hitam, Paula Creamer of the US and local player Kelly Tan pose with the LPGA Malaysia trophy at the press conference in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday. - S.S.KANESAN/ The STAR

KUALA LUMPUR: Haze or not, the LPGA Sime Darby Malaysia will swing into action on Thursday.

And as far as the golfers are concerned, they don’t think it will be a big problem.

American Paula Creamer is confident that “the organisers have the best interests of the golfers at heart and are monitoring the situation”.

“It is what it is. We can’t do anything about it.

“We are not dying by any means. I just hope the rain will come down and wash it away ... but not when we’re playing,” said the former world No. 2 in jest.

Top Malaysian pro Kelly Tan said that the haze situation “is beyond our control”.

“It’s the weather and we can’t control it. I played a few holes today and I don’t feel sick. I can go out and play,” said Kelly.

Defending champion Feng Shanshan of China said it doesn’t really do anything “except you can’t see really far”.

“We had a similar situation last year. It’s less humid, so I liked it,” she said.

World No. 1 Park In-bee of South Korea leads nine of the world’s top 10 women golfers for US$2mil (RM8.8mil) tournament.

There is no midway cut, with all 75 players playing four rounds of golf.

-thestar online.