Arie Irawan Ahmad – Bernama file photo
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian professional golfer Arie Irawan Ahmad is reported to have died at his hotel of apparent natural causes. He was just 28.
The Professional Golf Association of Malaysia (PGAM) in a statement here today said the official coroner’s report has not been completed.
Arie Irawan was in China playing in the Sanya Championship, the second event of the 2019 PGA Tour Series-China season.
However, he had missed the 36-hole cut.
“The PGA Tour and the China Golf Association grieve at this loss of one of our members and share pur sincere condolences with Arie’s wife, Marina, and his parents, Ahmad and Jeny.
“When something of this magnitude occurs in the golf world, we all grieve at the same time,” said the statement.
Out of respect for the family, it noted that officials have canceled the final round of the Sanya Championship and thus, the tournament becoming a 54-hole event.
Arie Irawan turned professional in April 2013 and in the following season, he played on the Asian Development Tour and earned his tour card for the 2015 Asian Tour after a 6th-place finish on the Asian Development Tour’s Order of Merit.
In January 2015, he won his first Official World Golf Ranking points event at the PGM Sime Darby Harvard Championship on the Asian Development Tour and with it, Irawan became the highest ranked Malaysian golfer in the world rankings
Meanwhile, Youth and Sports Minister Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman in a Twitter post said that he would asked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to help in bringing home Arie’s body.
“I will discuss this with MOFA and try to contact his family.
“My condolences to his family. May his soul be placed among the blessed,” Syed Saddiq said in his Twitter post. – Bernama