Lee Harper misses out by 10 shots

at Asian Final Qualifying School

NEWS RELEASE FROM ASIAN TOUR
Hua Hin , Thailand , January 16: Filipino Artemio Murakami defeated Guido Van Der Valk of Holland in a play-off at the 2010 Asian Tour Qualifying School Final Stage presented by Sports Authority of Thailand on Saturday.
Murakami and Van Der Valk, who both lost their Asian Tour cards last season, returned to the 18th hole after firing a final round 70 and 69 respectively to tie on 12-under-par 275 in regulation play at the Springfield Royal Country Club.
The duo birdied the first play-off hole which led to a dramatic second play-off hole as both their approach shots found water. Van Der Valk failed to recover and hit his fourth shot into the water for the second time.
Murakami’s second attempt landed safely on the green and he sank his putt for par and the victory. The 2007 Iskandar Johor Open winner led a total of 45 players who earned their Tour cards.
“From our angle, the sun was facing directly at us and we could not see where the green was! It was a really tough shot which both of us failed to make,” said Murakami.
Mark Foster (69) of England , a one-time European Tour winner, finished in tied third on 276 alongside overnight leader and two-time Japan Tour winner Katsumune Imai (74) of Japan .
Singapore ’s Quincy Quek finished tied 11th after his round of 74. Thailand ’s Pol Kemmarat was the only Thai who earned his Tour card after signing off with a 70 to finish in tied 28th place.
Frenchman Jean Van De Velde failed in his second attempt at the Asian Tour Qualifying School Final Stage after finishing in tied 67th place. Vietnamese Tran Le Duy Nhat, vying to be the first Vietnamese to make the grade, also finished outside the top-40.
Murakami was delighted to make a swift return to the Asian Tour after posting four birdies against two bogeys in regulation play.
“Overall my game clicked this week. I was struggling with my putting last year but it seems to be coming together again. It is always good to start with a victory and hopefully it will spur me on to more success this year,” said Murakami.
Despite his defeat, Van Der Valk remained optimistic and is confident that he will bounce back.
“There’s always a winner and loser in a play-off and it is too bad that I had to lose. The glaring sunlight did not help but I’m looking ahead to better performances on the Asian Tour and maybe try to go one up,” said the Dutchman who mixed his card with six birdies and three bogeys.
Quek, a former individual and team winner in the Putra Cup during his amateur days, made the turn in 40 but managed to recover with two birdies on the 11th and 12th holes.
“It was disappointing not to have a better result but I still made the grade and that’s what’s important. My game has matured and I’m feeling more confident. I’m looking forward to playing more on the Asian Tour and taking it to the next level,” said the Singaporean.
Lee Harper (Archerfield Links), pictured above by Cal Carson Golf Agency, missed out by 10 shots after a disappointing last round of 79 for 295.
The Sports Authority of Thailand also announced today that they will continue to sponsor the Asian Tour Qualifying School Final Stage for a further three years, extending their sponsorship to 2014.



FINAL TOTALS
Par 287 (3x72, 1x71)


275 Artemio Murakami (Phi) 67 73 65 70, Guido Van Der Valk (Net) 70 70 66 69
(Murakami won sudden-death play-off at second hole)
276 Mark Foster (Eng) 65 75 67 69, Katsumune Imai (Jap) 65 70 67 74
277 Yang Ji-ho (SKo) 70 70 72 65, Peter Cooke (Aus) 69 72 68 68, Han Seung-su (SKo) 65-71-71-70, Tim Sluiter (Net) 67-67-69-74
278 Matthew Rosenfeld (US) 70 71 69 68, Eltoro Sjoholm (Swe) 70 70 70 68
279 Richard Moir (Aus) 70-71-73-65, Ross Bain (Sco) 68 70 71 70, Kunal Bhasin (Aus) 68-71 68 72, Sean Shahi (US) 70-70-67-72, Azuma Yano (Jap) 69 66 70 74, Toni Karjalainen (Fin) 72 66 67 74, Quincy Quek(Sing)71-68-66-74
280 Kenichi Kuboye (Jap) 74 71 66 69, Alexandre Rocha (Brazil) 69 70 71 70, Richard Karlberg(Swe) 71 69 70 70, Kim Young-jin (Sko) 69 75 69 67, David Johnson (US) 70 67 70 73
281 Corey Harris (US) 70 74 68 69, Brad Smith (Aus) 71 66 71 73.
282 Ben Fox (US) 70 69 69 74, Takao Nogami (Jap) 71 72 70 69, Simon Dunn (Sco) 68 71 74 69. 283 Chang Tse-Peng (Taip) 70 68 76 69, Ferdinand Aunzo (Phi) 72 72 68 71, Taichiro Kiyota (Jap) 73 70 69 72, Hirotaro Naito (Jap) 69 71 72 71, Marvin Dumandan (Phi) 70 70 69 74, Sam Osborne (Eng) 66 72 74 71, Pol Kemmarat (Thai) 71 69 73 70, Baek Seuk-Hyun (SKo) 70 68 68 77.


284 P Gunasegaran (Malaysia) 75 69 74 66, Martin Rominger (Swi) 73 69 69 73, Peter Karmis (Rsa) 67 74 69 74, Lucas Lee (Brazil) 71 69 73 71.


285 Oscar Fraustro (Mex) 72 70 74 69, Jay Bayron (Phi) 72 71 72 70, Rohan Blizard (Aus) 72 71 71 71, Chiang Chen-Chih (Taip) 72 67 71 75, J S Kim (SKo) 69 69 74 73, Jason King (Aus) 68 73 72 72, Choi Jin-Ho (SKo) 74 71 69 71


FAILED TO QUALIFY FOR PLAYING RIGHTS
286 Tatsuhiko Takahashi (Jap) 70 72 73 71, Josh Smith (Aus) 73 68 74 71, Pasamet Pogamnerd (Thai) 68 72 74 72, Pavit Tangkamolprasert (Thai) 66 73 72 75, Akhmal Tarmizee (Malayasia) 75 67 68 76, Masaki Sakata (Jap) 65 70 77 74, Scott Arnold (Aus) 70 75 68 73, Edward Loar (US) 71 73 70 72, Namchok Tantipokakul (Thai) 72 73 69 72.
287 Daniel Im (US) 71 73 73 71, Xiao Zhi-Jin (China) 72 82 81 82, Lee Don-Ha (SKo) 72 68 74 73, Yoshinobu Tsukada (Jap) 69 76 69 73, Tran Le Duy Nhat (Viet) 73 70 68 76, Creighton Honeck (US) 69 73 68 77, Pasi Purhonen (Fin) 70 69 71 77, Joshua Kelley (US) 70 68 74 75, Hsieh Tung-Shu (Taip) 70 70 73 74, Hseij Chin-Sheng (Taip) 71 73 70 73, Bryan Saltus (US) 73 71 70 73.
288 Ronnachai Jamnong (Thai) 71 70 74 73, Jean Van De Velde (Fra) 72 73 70 73, Poosit Supupramai (Thai) 69 69 79 71, Hong Soon-Sang (SKo) 69 74 72 73, Kiyoshi Miyazato (Jap) 71 74 70 73, Kwon Ki-taek (SKo) 72 70 72 74, Daisuke Kataoka (Jap) 72 71 71 74.


289 Peter Wilson (Eng) 75 70 72 72, Nick Jones (US) 73 67 75 74, Dok Rea Noh (SKo) 74 69 75 71, Lee Jin-Won (SKo) 69 74 72 74, Jason Kang (U~S) 74 71 70 74, Jun Kikuchi (Jap) 68 73 73 75, Choi Min-Chel (SKo) 70 73 71 75, Shukree Othman (Malaysia) 72 67 72 78, Baaz Mann (India) 68 73 70 78, Cho Hyun-woo (Sko) (am) 67 75 69 78, Rafael Ponce (Ecu) 71 74 67 77, Richard Wallis (Eng) 73 71 70 70.


290 Tye Alexander (US) 69 763 74 74, Jake Grodzinsky (US) 72 71 72 75.


291 T J Kim (SKo) 69 73 74 75, Gabriel Canizares (Spa) 70 71 75 75, Lee Dae-jun (SKo) 70 67 81 73, Peter Shaw (Aus) 70 74 75 72.


292 Hsu Chia-Jen (Tai) 71 74 71 76, Hong Chia-Yuh (Taip) 75 70 75 72, Ashok Kumar (India) 76 67 70 79.


293 Takafumi Kawane (Jap) 72 70 74 77, Senroku Isa (Jap) 70 75 74 74.


295 Lee Harper (Sco) 69 73 76 79, Ryan Panichpakdee (US) 71 72 75 77.


296 Siddikur Ban 72 73 74 77, Sung Ji-boo (SKo) (am) 70 73 79 74, Piya Swabgaryboirb *(Thai) 67 74 81 74.


298 Masahiko Wada (Jap) 71 73 77 77.


299 Liao Gui-Ming (China) 70 75 78 76.


300 Choengchai Panpumpo (Thai) 73 72 76 79.


303 Lu Tze-Shyan (Taip) 74 71 77 81.