Ben Leong: Sabah's Asian Tour Golf Champion
Who is Ben Leong, the golfer from Sabah?
Ben Leong is a Sabahan professional golfer born in 1986. He won the 2008 Worldwide Selangor Masters on the Asian Tour and was SEA Games amateur champion in 2003 and 2005, making him one of the state's most successful golfers.
Ben Leong at a glance
Golf may not be the first sport people associate with Sabah, but the state has quietly produced players who can hold their own across Asia. Chief among them is Ben Leong Cheng Hiong, born in 1986, whose career has taken in both amateur honours and a notable professional title.
His standout achievement is winning the 2008 Worldwide Selangor Masters on the Asian Tour, a result that placed him among Malaysia's most prominent golfers of the period. Before that, he had already proved himself one of the region's best amateurs.
Worldwide Selangor Masters winner (2008, Asian Tour); SEA Games amateur champion in 2003 and 2005; multiple Asian Tour top-10 finishes.
An award-winning amateur career
Long before he lifted a professional trophy, Ben Leong was making his name in the amateur game. He won the SEA Games amateur title twice, in 2003 and again in 2005, a rare double that marked him out as one of Southeast Asia's leading young golfers.
That kind of consistency at regional level is often the clearest sign that a player can make the step up to the paid ranks. For Leong, those amateur successes laid the foundation for the professional career that followed.
Winning the 2008 Selangor Masters
The defining moment of Ben Leong's career came in 2008, when he won the Worldwide Selangor Masters, an event on the Asian Tour. Victory on the Asian Tour is a significant achievement for any Malaysian golfer, placing the winner among the best in a competitive continental field.
The win confirmed Leong as one of the country's leading professionals at the time and remains the headline entry on his record. For Sabah, it was a reminder that the state's sportspeople could compete and win well beyond Borneo.
Life on the professional tours
As a professional, Leong played on the Asian Tour and the OneAsia Tour, two of the main circuits in the region. Alongside his Selangor Masters title, he recorded a number of top-10 finishes, the steady results that mark out a genuine tour-level competitor.
Competing week to week against strong fields from across Asia is demanding, and Leong's body of work over those years reflects a player who belonged at that level rather than someone remembered for a single result.
A leading name in Sabahan golf
Ben Leong is widely regarded as one of the finest golfers Sabah has produced. His combination of amateur titles and a professional Asian Tour win gives him a more complete record than most, and his success helped raise the profile of golf in the state.
For younger Sabahan golfers, his career is proof that the path from local courses to regional tours is possible. Together with fellow Sabahan Nicholas Fung, he forms part of a small but meaningful golfing legacy for the state.
Read about footballer Matlan Marjan, or explore the full Notable Sabahans guide to athletes, artists and writers.