Rhys Davies runner-up in Singha

Thailand Open after final 67

PRESS RELEASE ISSUED BY ASIAN TOUR
Indian star Jyoti Randhawa cruised to a comfortable two-stroke victory at the Singha Thailand Open for his eighth Asian Tour victory today.
The 36-year-old Randhawa produced a flawless five-under-par 65 to hold off Edinburgh-born Welshman Rhys Davies, pictured right, who equalled his best performance on Tour with a closing 67 at Laguna Phuket Golf Club for second place.
Chinese Taipei’s Lu Wei-chih settled for third position, three behind the winner, after a 65 while S.S.P. Chowrasia of India was tied fourth alongside upcoming Chinese talent Wu Ashun after rounds of 69 and 66 respectively.
“I’m feeling great. I played marvellous golf the last two days. To shoot five under without any bogeys was good, I’m very happy,” said Randhawa, whose winning total of 17-under-par 263 earned him a cheque for US$79,250.
Tied for the overnight lead with Davies and Chowrasia, Randhawa, who charged into contention with a sizzling 62 on Saturday, pulled one stroke clear of the pack after shooting three birdies in his opening five holes. He coolly maintained his grip down the final straight with further birdies on the 12th and 15th holes.
“The way the course was set up and the way it was playing, I thought I could shoot some low numbers and I did that the last two days and I’m glad I did it,” said Randhawa, who is the first Indian to lift the Singha Thailand Open King’s Trophy.
The 2002 Asian number one said his relaxed attitude, where he spent time scuba diving with fellow competitor and brother-in-law Digvijay Singh and their families, was the key to his success on the holiday isle of Phuket.
“That’s the mantra now,” said Randhawa. “I need to relax a bit and chill out. You don’t practice and work hard during tournaments. You do it before that. I came here, I swam, I went scuba diving and I enjoyed myself. And here I am, I’ve won a golf tournament. I learned a lot and I think I need to do this more often.
“The two boys (Davies and Chowrasia) got me going. They were on my heels the whole day. S.S.P. made an eagle on the first hole and I needed to wake up and do something and luckily I did. It was good competition.”
Davies, who was bidding for a first Asian Tour title, was happy that he pushed Randhawa all the way. “I thought that if I played a good solid round it would give me a chance. With a few holes to go I had a chance but I just missed out,” said the Welshman.
The 23-year-old stayed close on Randhawa’s shoulders and trailed by two at the turn. He blew his chance of turning on the pressure at the two closing par five holes by bogeying the 17th after finding trouble in thick rough.
“Jyoti played great– he hit a number of great shots and a few good putts at the right time and that was the difference, I think,” said Davies. “Maybe his experience also helped but I felt comfortable in that position. It just did not quite happen – a few things did not go right and if they had it would have been a different story.”
Lu, chasing a second Tour title, threw in a bold challenge by going to five under for the round through 15 holes but his hopes came undone at the demanding 17th, the second toughest hole during the week, when he hooked his drive into the hazard and dropped a bogey.
“I tensed up with the tee shot,” said Lu. “I didn’t think about winning all day long but when I was two back I thought of giving it a push but hit a poor shot on the 17th tee.”
Thongchai Jaidee, winner of the Enjoy Jakarta Indonesia Open last Sunday, and Chapchai Nirat finished as the top Thais in a share of 10th place at 270, seven shots behind the winner while two-time US PGA Tour winner Daniel Chopra of Sweden came in joint sixth place with England's Yasin Ali after closing with a 63.
LEADING FINAL TOTALS

Par 280 (4 x 70)
263 Jyoti Randhawa (Ind) 68 68 62 65
265 Rhys Davies (Wal) 65 64 69 67
266 Lu Wei-Chih (Tpe) 65 68 68 65
267 Wu Ashun (Chn) 67 67 67 66, S.S.P. Chowrasia (Ind) 66 62 70 69
268 Daniel Chopra (Swe) 67 69 69 63, Yasin Ali (Eng) 70 68 66 64
269 Mardan Mamat (Sin) 66 67 69 67, Kodai Ichihara (Jpn) 68 66 68 67
270 Mark Purser (Nzl) 68 69 70 63, Anthony Kang (USA) 67 70 68 65, Himmat Rai (Ind) 65 72 68 65, Thongchai Jaidee (Tha) 69 70 64 67, Chapchai Nirat (Tha) 64 69 69 68, Gaganjeet Bhullar (Ind) 64 66 71 69, Keith Horne (Rsa) 65 69 68 68, Unho Park (Aus) 64 71 66 69, Juvic Pagunsan (Phi) 70 65 65 70
271 Anirban Lahiri (Ind) 68 67 72 64, Mo Joong-Kyung (Kor) 65 71 69 66, Udorn Duangdecha (Tha) 66 66 70 69
272 Angelo Que (Phi) 67 67 71 67, Kim Dae-Hyun (Kor) 70 64 69 69
273 Jbe Kruger (Rsa) 68 67 72 66, Iain Steel (Mal) 69 66 71 67, Varut Chomchalam (Tha) 69 67 70 67, Rory Hie (Ina) 69 68 69 67, Tetsuji Hiratsuka (Jpn) 66 70 69 68, Tim Stewart (Aus) 65 67 69 72, David Bransdon (Aus) 66 65 69 73, Prom Meesawat (Tha) 71 64 66 72
274 Kiradech Aphibarnrat (Tha) 68 66 73 67, Lam Chih Bing (Sin) 68 67 71 68, Kwanchai Tannin (Tha) 65 70 70 69, Shiv Kapur (Ind) 69 68 68 69, Antonio Lascuna (Phi) 68 68 67 71
275 Frankie Minoza (Phi) 69 69 72 65, Young Nam (Kor) 65 74 69 67, Andrew Dodt (Aus) 68 69 70 68, Darren Beck (Aus) 67 67 72 69, Toni Karjalainen (Fin) 70 65 71 69, Bryan Saltus (USA) 68 66 70 71, Park Jun-Won (Kor) 67 70 66 72
276 Mars Pucay (Phi) 68 70 73 65, Artemio Murakami (Phi) 67 71 71 67, Adam Le Vesconte (Aus) 69 70 68 69, S. Siva Chandhran (Mal) 69 68 68 71, Ben Leong (Mal) 69 66 68 73
277 Boonchu Ruangkit (Tha) 65 71 70 71, Gavin Flint (Aus) 70 66 70 71, Jason Knutzon (USA) 72 63 70 72
278 Chris Campbell (Aus) 70 67 72 69, Nakul Vichitryuthasastr (Tha) 69 70 70 69, Zhang Lian-Wei (Chn) 70 67 70 71
279 Neven Basic (Aus) 70 69 70 70, Siddikur (Ban) 68 68 67 76
280 Chang Tse-Peng (Tpe) 67 71 73 69, Mitchell Brown (Aus) 63 71 73 73, Danny Chia (Mal) 69 66 70 75
282 Vuttipong Puangkaew (Tha) 66 73 73 70, Shang Lei (Chn) 67 72 73 70, Chaipat Darapanich (Tha) 72 67 72 71, Thaworn Wiratchant (Tha) 70 69 69 74
283 Amandeep Johl (Ind) 67 69 72 75
286 Peter Cooke (Aus) 70 69 76 71
288 Jean Van De Velde (Fra) 70 69 77 72, Digvijay Singh (Ind) 63 73 76 76

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