Khavish Varadan [main picture] is well within his rights to consider 2026 a breakthrough season so far.

Currently riding high on top of the Asian Development Tour (ADT) Order of Merit, thanks to a win and a pair of second placed finishes, he’s also shown glimpses of his potential on the Asian Tour.  He tied for 11^th at the Taiwan Glass Taifong Open in May – for his best finish on the Tour.

However, ahead of this week’s Mercuries Taiwan Masters, Malaysia’s rising star is not getting ahead of himself.

“I wouldn’t say breakthrough,” says the 26-year-old, “but I’m just building on every week. You know, I’m not doing anything special. It’s just, you know, the same thing every week. Hopefully the breakthrough will come soon.”

Varadan represents an exciting new generation of  golfers from his country, that includes Ervin Chang.

At last week’s Yeangder TPC he was one of the clubhouse leaders on the first day and eventually finished in a tie for 39th . The result moved him into 66^th place on the Asian Tour Order of Merit.

Chang charged through on the final day carding a 64 to end in out right possession of sixth. It was his second-best performance on Tour and means he is well placed in 35^th position on the Merit list.

Khavish Varadan in action last week.

Varadan will want to improve on his Merit list position and has work to do, while also trying to wrap up first place on the ADT Merit list.

He said he struggled to deal with the nuances of the Chinese-Taipei greens last week but credits a swing change and a new caddie with his strong performances this year. His countryman Guna, who used to work with Thailand’s Sarit Suwannarut, is now on his bag.

“Went through a swing change middle of last year, somewhere in April. It’s nice to see the changes I’ve made in my golf game prosper slowly,” he said.

“I would say hiring Guna has made a big difference, as well as the work on my swing and also the new irons that I put in have been performing really well. So, you know, everything kind of blends in together. But I would say, first, I think having a good guy on my bag is really helpful.”

He first made headlines at Malaysian Open early in 2024, when in his first event as a professional he shared the lead at the halfway mark. He went on to finish in a tie for 13^th for an impressive debut.

However, it’s been this year that he has started to find his feet, with his place on the Asian Tour made possible thanks to finishing 22^nd at the Qualifying School.

His form has helped vindicate his decision two years ago to not finish his final year at the University of Alabama at Birmingham in order to make the transition to the paid ranks.

“It wasn’t easy,” he says of the important decision.

“I could have finished my final year in college, but I didn’t see any help in my golf game continuing at university. Whilst on the other end it’s not easy, professional golf is also not easy. You know, you need a little bit of luck involved and also a good support system, which I have. You know, I am thankful to my dad for that because he was like, ‘Well, if you make a decision, I’m all in …’.

Khavish Varadan (left) was the top Malaysian player when he tied for 13th at the Malaysian Open in 2024.

“So, it’s been good. I think I have learned a lot in professional golf because in university we wouldn’t be playing in conditions like this, and able to perform in conditions like this. You know, everyone’s playing in it and everyone’s playing well in it, so we’ve got to find a way to put the ball in the hole. So, I think I would be complaining a lot in university, but now, no.”

His victory on the ADT came at the Nam A Bank Vietnam Masters where he defeated Thailand’s Jazz Janewattananond in extra time, while one of his runner-up finishes was also the result of a play-off, at the PKNS Selangor Masters on home soil. Singapore’s Nicklaus Chiam got the better of him on that occassion.

Those were certainly invaluable real-life experiences that could not have been learned at university and will hopefully put him on course to winning on the Asian Tour – something which no Malaysian has achieved since Nicholas Fung and Gavin Green in 2017.  The former claimed the Queen’s Cup in June of that year, while the latter was victorious in October, at the very same event that starts this Thursday at Taiwan Golf & Country Club.