Kuala Lumpur, Oct 28 (IANS): American David Lipsky is confident of tightening his grip on the Asian Tour’s Order of Merit race with a worthy performance at the CIMB Classic which starts Thursday.

Lipsky leads second ranked Anirban Lahiri of India by slightly over $160,000 in the race to become Asia’s new number one and there will be plenty to shoot for as the CIMB Classic offers a lucrative $7 million prize pot in the event sanctioned by the Asian Tour and PGA Tour.

“I have a pretty sizable lead right now. As long as I play well for the rest of the year and do what I need to do, I'm pretty confident I can win. Golf is up and down and you can't win every week but I've played well here in the past and I have good memories, so I'm looking forward to the week,” said Lipsky.

The American, winner of the 'Qualifying School' in 2012, claimed a wonderful victory at the Omega European Masters in Switzerland in September to lead the Merit rankings but Lahiri has reduced the gap with a second title of the year in Macau last weekend.

With a cool $1.26 million top cheque awaiting the winner of the CIMB Classic, Lipsky knows much is at stake at the Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club’s West course.

A return to the challenging West Course brings back good memories for Lipsky who finished tied third at the same venue in the 2012 Malaysian Open.

"I love the course and I have great memories from here," said Lipsky, who will play the opening two rounds with title holder Ryan Moore and runner-up Gary Woodland."

The 26-year-old Lipsky is among the leading 10 Asian Tour players in the field which includes popular Thai Prom Meesawat, Filipinos Antonio Lascuna and Angelo Que and Australian rookie Cameron Smith.

Reigning FedEx Cup winner Billy Horschel of the US, Major winners Jason Dufner and Charl Schwartzel of South Africa will also feature in the elite 78-man field, which has no halfway cut.