Malaysia’s Khavish Varadan [main picture] says a swing change last year has been central to his success this season.

He was crowned the Asian Development Tour (ADT) Order of Merit champion this week, following the postponement of the season-ending Aramco Invitational tournament in Saudi Arabia – helping to establish him as one of the region’s most exciting young prospects.

He said this week: “It’s been a good year as a whole after the changes I made swing-wise last year. It was very rewarding as you get anxious to see how the changes that you made last year would come together this year. But it’s been good.”

On the ADT he won the Nam A Bank Vietnam Masters, after beating Thailand’s Jazz Janewattananond in a sudden-death play-off, lost the PKNS Selangor Masters in extra time and was also runner-up in the Ciputra Golfpreneur event.

It was an impressive performance by a golfer in his third year in the professional game and has provided him with a huge boost as he attempts transfer his form onto the bigger tours.

Khavish Varadan at the SJM Macao Open.

“I feel like I can compete any week, you know. Doesn’t have to be on the Asian tour or the PGA Tour, the European Tour, but it’s just a matter of time. Now I feel like I’m understanding, you know, certain things that I need to compete on the Tour, and I feel like it might happen anytime soon,” he said.

It is the first time he has won the ADT Merit list and he becomes only the third Malaysian to do so in the 16-year history of the ADT. His compatriots S. Siva Chandhran and Nicholas Fung won the Merit title in 2010 and in 2013 respectively.

Having made it through the 2026 Asian Tour Qualifying School he has also been playing on the main tour this year and is presently in 78^th position on the Merit list, having competed in 10 tournaments.

Having won the ADT Merit title – which sees the top-10 earn Asian Tour cards for next year – and with no 2027 Qualifying School to be staged in order to allow the 2026 graduates to keep their status, Varadan is safe in the knowledge that he is facing another full playing schedule next season.

“There’s always room for improvement in regards to the Main tour,” said the 26-year-old. “We’re playing on different golf courses, adapting to different situations, and obviously playing in a couple golf courses on the ADT definitely helped me adapt to those golf courses, but as a whole, it’s more of a learning curve for me this year. Understanding my game, understanding my adaptability towards certain golf courses. I know it will help me perform better on those golf courses next year.”

He will compete in the Philippine Open presented by Philippine Sports Commission in two weeks, where he will have another chance elevate his game further in what is the season-ending event.

Pictures by Graham Uden/Asian Tour.