SINGAPORE – Having opened the season with his first professional win, Singapore golfer Nicklaus Chiam found more reason to celebrate as the 2026 Asian Development Tour (ADT) ended.

By finishing seventh on the ADT’s Order of Merit (OOM), with US$40,022 (S$51,300) in earnings from 10 events, Chiam secured his card for the 2027 Asian Tour.

The top 10 players in the OOM standings earn full playing status on the following season’s Asian Tour.

Chiam is just the seventh Singaporean golfer to achieve the feat, after Mardan Mamat, Lam Chih Bing, Quincy Quek, Choo Tze Huang, James Leow and Gregory Foo.

When contacted, Chiam said that while playing the whole year to get a card can feel stressful, he feels fortunate enough to get through it.

“Getting an Asian Tour status is a significant step up because it changes your ability to plan a season easier,” added the 30-year-old.

“Being the seventh Singaporean to earn full Asian Tour status means a lot to me personally. It’s a milestone I’ve worked towards for a long time, and knowing that all the hard work, sacrifices and challenges along the way have led to this moment makes it even more special.

“I’m very grateful to everyone who has believed in me and supported me along the way.”

Singapore national coach Murray Smit hailed another breakthrough from Chiam, who clinched the ADT season-opening PKNS Selangor Masters in February for his maiden professional title.

“He won the opening event of the season and then has had numerous good performances throughout the year which have allowed him to finish seventh on the ADT Order of Merit,” said Smit.

“He had spent most of 2025 competing in Japan and I really feel this helped his development as a player.

“This is the next step forward for him though and being able to compete full time on the Asian Tour will certainly allow him to develop further and continue to climb the Official World Golf Rankings.”

Chiam, who is ranked 950th, had waited more than four years for his first win since turning professional in November 2021.

He was expected to finish third at the Seri Selangor Golf Club in February, after bogeying the 18th hole in the final round, but Hong Kong’s Matthew Cheung and Thailand’s Poom Pattaropong both faltered on the last hole, which set up a three-man play-off.

Chiam then sank a 20-foot birdie putt on the third extra hole to beat Malaysia’s Khavish Varadan and Thailand’s Runchanapong Youprayong.

He said: “The first win definitely helped a lot with me not being able to play some events during the year. It set up the year nicely but I still had to play well throughout the year.”

The US$30,625 winner’s prize made up about over three quarters of his earnings from this season’s ADT.

His next highest finish came at the ADT Players Championship in May, when he placed fifth for US$4,455.

He was also part of the Singapore team who competed at the Sept 19-Oct 4 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games. He missed the cut in the individual competition while the men’s team, which also featured Leow and Hiroshi Tai, finished eighth out of 21.

The Asian Tour card ends a long wait for Chiam, who had also tried to earn his spot through its qualifying school. In December 2024, he finished tied-46th in the final stage of Q-School, outside the top 35 and ties who earned Asian Tour status.

Chiam will next travel to China for the AITO 2026 China Tour Match Play Championship in Chongqing from Nov 12 to 15.

He will also be in Tochigi, Japan, for the The Second Qualifying Stage of the Japan Golf Tour Qualifying Tournament from Nov 17 to 20.

Chiam, who was named after American golf legend Jack Nicklaus by his father Andrew, believes that the ADT “provides a valuable pathway” for Singaporean players to gain experience to compete at a higher level.

He added: “It’s not an easy journey, and everyone has their own challenges along the way, but seeing more Singaporeans come through shows that the hard work is paying off.

“Hopefully we can build on this momentum and show that Singapore can compete at a high level.”

Smit is heartened by the trajectory of Singapore’s golfers in the past year, which also saw Shannon Tan recording the best Major result of her career with a tied-sixth finish at the Women’s British Open in August 2026, after winning the 2025 Ladies European Tour OOM.

“It has been fantastic to see the progress of the Singaporean professionals over the last 12 months,” he said.

“Shannon Tan continues to grow from strength to strength and to now have Nicklaus join James and Gregory on the Asian Tour for 2027 is a big step forward as we didn’t have any players out there full-time just a few years back.”