Kuala Lumpur:  Airil Rizman Zahari has become the first Malaysian to lead the Asian Tour s order of merit, bringing cheer to a country, which has been short of golfing success.

Airil s two-stroke triumph in the Pakistan Open on Sunday created a small slice of history as the winner s cheque of 47,550 dollars put him on the top of the order of merit after the tour s season-opening event in Karachi.

It was a memorable weekend that extended Malaysia s recent fine run as highly-rated youngster Ben Leong won the Qualifying School in Thailand last month and is widely tipped to challenge for honours this year.

Airil, 27,is only the second Malaysian to win on the Asian Tour after the heroics of Danny Chia who was victorious in the 2002 Taiwan Open. But since then, the nation has been starved of international success.

Airil readily admits that his stay at the top of the order of merit may not be for long, with several big-money events, starting with this week s 2.2 million dollar Commercialbank Qatar Masters, coming up on the schedule.

But the slightly-built Malaysian is determined to remain in the spotlight. "I am delighted to lead the Asian Tour s UBS Order of Merit but it is still in the early stages of the season and anything can happen," said Airil.

As an amateur, Airil was the country s number one player, winning the Malaysian amateur championship three times and helping the nation lift the Southeast Asian Games team gold medal on home soil in 2001.

But like most upcoming youngsters, Airil needed time to find his feet on the Asian Tour after joining the paid ranks in 2002.

 He found success on the domestic Malaysian circuit, winning seven times but on the Asian Tour, he struggled and missed 16 cuts from 30 starts.