Que faces tough Selangor defence

Filipino star Angelo Que is bracing himself for a tough time when he defends his Worldwide Holdings Selangor Masters title on the Asian Tour later this month.

The three-time Asian Tour winner knows that repeating as champion is often a big task but is prepared for the challenge at the Kota Permai Golf and Country Club from July 20-23, 2011.
"It's always hard to defend your title. I've won 12 tournaments in my career (including those on the domestic circuit) but have only managed to defend twice. It will be especially hard at the Worldwide Holdings Selangor Masters as there will be a strong field," said Que.
"It's a title which you get to hold for one year. It's going to be hard."
Last year, the effervescent Que edged Englishman Chris Rodgers at Seri Selangor Golf Club in a play-off to pick up his third title in the region. The RM1.2 million (approximately US$400,000) event will be played at a new venue this year at Kota Permai which Que thinks will make his defence even more difficult.
"We've played at Kota Permai several times for the World Cup Qualifying and Malaysian Open in the past, so it's not a new course. Seri Selangor probably suits my game better and I always seem to play well there.
"At Kota Permai, anybody can move up the leaderboard as the golf course is wider and the greens are bigger. It will be tough to stay ahead of the others but I'm looking forward to it.
"I've had some good experiences at Kota Permai previously as I qualified for my first World Cup in 2008. It'll be nice if I can win again."
Que believes his mental side of the game is now sharper than before although he wasn't too pleased with his report card from the front half of the 2011 season. He enjoyed a top-10 at the season-opening Avantha Masters in India and posted another top-20 at the inaugural Indonesian Masters in April.
"My mental side has improved. Now, I can see and plan things better, both with my life and my golf career. Previously, I would just go with the flow and simply sign up for every tournament on the Schedule. My game suffered but through proper planning and scheduling now, I feel I am playing better," said the 32-year-old.
"I still need to improve on my physical aspect as I'm not getting any younger. The bottom line is that you just try to get better in everything, your personal life, physical and mental aspects of your game."
Into his eighth year in the pro ranks, Que believes his game is showing vital signs of maturity. He said he was more consistent now and when he is on top of his game, he can contend with the big boys.
"If I miss the cut these days, it's only by a shot or two. I'm a slow improver. In eight years, I'm been improving slowly in my career. It's probably just my nature. Some players improve really fast but everything is coming together for me now," said Que.
For the fourth successive year, Worldwide Holdings will title sponsor the Selangor Masters. The state-linked company has a impressive portfolio of businesses which include property development and investment, environmental management services and investment holding in Selangor. Worldwide Holdings also recently expanded its businesses into Australia.
Worldwide Holding's support of the Selangor Masters is part of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) where apart from sports sponsorship, it also supports the underprivileged through various community projects.