JAMES BYRNE WINS PUTRA MASTERS IN MALAYSIA
JAMES BYRNE WITH TROPHY IN MALAYSIA
NEWS RELEASE FROM ASIAN TOUR
Sungai
Buloh, Selangor, Malaysia: James Byrne from Banchory, Scotland sensationally won his first Asian Development Tour title at the PGM CCM
Rahman Putra Masters with a sizzling five-under-par 67 today.
The
2011 Walker Cup star and Scottish Northern Open champion took advantage of a hot start where he was
five-under through seven holes to finish the day two shots ahead of
playing partner Quincy Quek of Singapore, who posted a 70 at the
RM200,000 (approximately US$65,000) Asian Development Tour (ADT) event.
Lam
Chih Bing of Singapore and co-overnight leader Malcolm Kokocinski of
Sweden settled for tied third following a 68 and 72 respectively at the
event which is the first ADT tournament to receive Official World Golf
Ranking points this season.
Following
a successful Asian Tour Qualifying School campaign last week, where he
earned playing rights on the established Tour, Byrne took advantage of
his fine form as he overcame a two-shot deficit with a hot putter and
acute iron play to win his second professional title.
“I’m
feeling good. I’ve been playing well in the last couple of weeks. I
carried on the confidence from the Asian Tour Qualifying School even
though I had a bad last day. I tried to take the positives from it and
was able to take some confidence into this week,” said Byrne, who
totalled 11-under-par 277 and won US$11,375.
“I
remember last year Mardan (Mamat) won the first ADT event and he won
pretty soon after that on the Asian Tour. I’m not putting any pressure on myself
to win again but every time you win, it is a good feeling because you
can take confidence from that,” smiled the 24-year-old who played the US college circuit for four years as an Arizona State University student.
After
his hot start, Byrne dropped two shots on the eighth hole but he
steadied ship with a 20-foot birdie putt on nine before adding three
further birdies against two bogeys.
“I
knew I could contend at this level and if I played well I would be up
there. I got off to a really good start. I was five-under after seven
holes. From that point I was already in a good position and knew I could
play it a little bit safer coming in. I did double bogey the eighth
hole but I came back with three other birdies. I didn’t let the double
bogey get to me and I stayed positive,” said Byrne.
The
25-year-old Quek rued the missed opportunity of winning his second ADT
title but was delighted with his runner-up finish in his first
tournament of the year.
“I
couldn’t have asked for a better start to the year after coming off
cold from not playing for a month. James (Byrne) played great. He was
pretty much in the lead after nine holes. He was burning the course,”
said Quek.
“I
was feeling a bit down until the 14th hole because nothing was
happening. I was hitting it good and giving myself realistic chances but
not making the birdies. Then I hit it close to 14 and had a birdie
there. Saved par on 16th and birdied again on 17 from close range. It is
nice to finish off that way after a day that was kind of mundane,” he
added.
Nachimuthu,
the 2011 PGM Tour number one, finished as the best placed Malaysian. He
was two-under at the turn but returned two shots on his homeward nine
as his putter turned cold.
“My
putting was horrible but my hitting was okay. Overall my putter let me
down I feel that I’ve been doing okay. I could have done slightly better
but overall I’m still happy,” said Nachimuthu.
LEADING FINAL TOTALS
Par 288 (4x72)
277 - James BYRNE (SCO) 71-71-68-67
279 - Quincy QUEK (SIN) 71-68-7070
280 - LAM Chih Bing (SIN) 69-70-73-68, Malcolm KOKOCINSKI (SWE) 71-68-69-72
281 - Grant JACKSON (ENG) 69-72-73-67, R. Nachimuthu (MAS) 67-70-72-72,
Zaw MOE (MYN) 72-69-67-73
282 - Edward REYES (PHI) 69-74-69-70, Mitsuhiko HASHIZUME (JPN) 69-67-72-74
283 - S. Murthy (MAS) 68-74-72-69, Mardan MAMAT (SIN) 67-74-71-71
284 - Nicholas FUNG (MAS) 73-70-70-71, Rory HIE (INA) 71-69-72-72
285 - Shaaban HUSSIN (MAS) 70-71-72-72, Nick REDFERN (ENG) 68-74-69-74, Iain STEEL (MAS) 68-68-74-75
286 - Greg MOSS (USA) 71-75-68-72, Wolmer MURILLO (VEN) 68-72-76-70, Masaru TAKAHASHI (JPN) 73-68-71-74
TO VIEW ALL THE FINAL TOTALS AND PRIZEMONEY
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TO VIEW ALL THE FINAL TOTALS AND PRIZEMONEY
CLICK HERE
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