ALASTAIR FORSYTH will be hoping to show some Eastern promise this week in Malaysia and kick-start his European Tour season.

The Paisley ace, who won the Malaysian Open crown in 2002, returns to the scene of his biggest triumph.

Forsyth regained his Tour card by the skin of his teeth at last November's qualifying school but is eager to bolster his category ahead of the circuit's re-rank next month and earn more playing opportunities.

Having started the 2014 campaign by making four cuts in a row, the former Scottish PGA champion has missed his last three and his manager, Iain Stoddart, is hopeful his client can turn the corner.

Stoddart said: "It's a big one for him as there's a big prize fund on offer and he needs to improve his position on the rankings.

"He was delighted to get his playing rights back on the Tour but, like all the players in his position, he knows he has to make the most of the chances that come along.

"There's been a lot of stopping and starting for the boys at the lower end of the Tour but they know that will happen and they just have to get on with it. Alastair got the last card at q-school. He's back at the bottom really but it's a starting point to build towards where he wants to be."

Forsyth, a two-time winner on the Tour, is joined in the line-up this week by Glasgow Tour champions Marc Warren and Scott Jamieson.

Fresh from their exploits in the Masters, former Malaysian Open winners Louis Oosthuizen and Lee Westwood headline the field in the $2.5million event.

Westwood, who finished seventh at Augusta, won the Malaysian crown back in 1997 and makes his first visit to the Kuala Lumpur club for seven years.

Former Open champ Oosthuizen claimed the Malaysian bounty in 2012, a week after he came agonisingly close to winning the Masters, where he lost in a play-off to Bubba Watson.

The South African immediately bounced back from his near-miss by securing a three-shot victory over Scotland's Stephen Gallacher.