Gavin Green (Mas)

I feel good, I’ve been playing well the last few weeks. I’ve just had a couple of hiccups here and there that disrupted the whole game, but it’s been good so far. I got my coach down for a couple of days and worked with him, trying to get ready for this event.

We all call them legends (Els, Harrington), they are part of what has made golf what it is now. It’s good to have them here. Obviously we’re all dealing with the heat, it’s a lot hotter than usual. I think it will be a fun week. The crowds are good this week, the greens are looking better, the course is looking better, hopefully the weather holds up and we can get a good four rounds in.

The greens should be good all week. After last year they tore them down and re-did them. It’s the first time they’ve been open since the changes. The greens are quick, especially with the contours, it gets really fast. You need to be aware of where they put the pins. You’ve got to think your way around. If you miss in the wrong spots you can get into some serious trouble here.

It’s such a big one for me. I love playing in front of a home crowd. I don’t really get much opportunity like this as I’ve been playing more in Europe nowadays. Maybank have helped me and been with me through the years. It would be really good to play well and finish as high as I can.

Zach Murray (Aus)

It’s really nice to win on the Asian Tour and to know that I did it so fast after coming through Qualifying School. I’m playing at the Saujana Golf and Country Club for the first time and it’s going to be a good physical test. I played the pro-am yesterday and I really enjoyed it. The course is in fantastic conditions. I enjoy playing in Asia as a whole and it has been great. After making my professional debut at the Australian Open, my goal was to get a card somewhere in the world and I looked at the Asian Tour. I managed to get my card there and obviously that win in New Zealand has changed my life and I’m trying to take it all in now. My goal for this year is to finish as high as I can on the Asian Tour Order of Merit.

Padraig Harrington (Irl)

I wouldn’t say the wrist is 100%, it might not be 100% for about nine months, or at least another six or seven months. I’m working away at it. Traditionally the Malaysian Open was my first event of the season, if you go back 20 years, so it’s my first event this year and I’m looking forward to that good karma, let’s say. It’s interesting to come out here. I hit shots on the range here, I hit shots last week and the wrist is holding up, there’s no doubt about it. There’s a certain amount of mobility issues and I need to work on the strength of it. Maybe hit a few less balls in the short term, but in general it’s right on track. If anything it’s probably ahead of expectations. It’s a very good set up this year. The changes to the greens have substantially changed the way the course will play. They also have nice run offs – very green has this five or six yards of fairway run off where you run own into a little collar of rough. Very, very awkward.

The greens are firm. It looks difficult to me, you can never quite tell. I don’t want to prepare myself for eight under par winning the tournament – it might be 20 under par – but it feels like it’s an eight under par with the firmness of the greens. Obviously it depends where the referees set up the pins. It looks like the changes are excellent, a really, really good challenge.

It’s actually not tricky as a golf course, the firm greens are what will make it difficult this week. Some people might call firm greens tricky, but at the end of the day quality golf shots are going to have to be hit into the greens. You’ll have to be on the fairway hitting those shots. I think the golf course is difficult in the right way. We’re not used to coming to Asian tournaments where the greens are this firm. It’s a wake-up call.

Shubhankar Sharma (Ind)