ENGLAND'S GRANT JACKSON WINS ON ASIAN DEVELOPMENT TOUR

NEWS RELEASE FROM ASIAN TOUR

Johor, Malaysia, April 13: Grant Jackson of England landed his first Asian Development Tour (ADT) title after defeating local hope R. Nachimuthu and Wolmer Murillo of Venezuela by four shots at the PGM Maybank Johor Masters on Saturday.

 

Jackson posted a final round one-under-par 71 which was enough to earn his first victory this season after coming close on several occasions. He capitalized on his course record of 64 in the penultimate round for a winning total of 17-under-par 271 at the Johor Country Club.

 

Nachimuthu charged up the leaderboard with a 68 while Murillo, playing in his first ADT season, carded a 72 to settle for tied second place at the RM200,000 (approximately US$65,000) event.

 

Reigning PGM Tour Order of Merit winner Nicholas Fung carded a 71 to finish fourth, five shots from the champion Jackson.

 

Jackson, who finished seventh on the ADT Order of Merit last year, credited his victory to a new putter and to his golf coach in Thailand.

 

“This means everything to me. It's the only reason why I'm playing on the ADT as I want to try to finish top-three (on the Order of Merit to get the Asian Tour card,” said the Englishman. 

 

“This is a nice change as I've been knocking on the door for a bit. The change in putter and seeing a coach in Thailand really helped my game. I wish I had made those changes earlier,” he added.

 

He earned US$11,315 for his victory, which propelled him to second place on the Order of Merit, behind the leader James Bowen of the United States. He also received six Official World Golf Ranking points for his triumph.

 

Murillo, the leader on day two, rued the missed opportunity of winning his first career title when he made 11 straight pars from the eighth hole.

 

“The greens were of different pace today and I guess I was a bit anxious in trying to get the win. I hit good and bad shots and missed some birdie opportunities which didn't go in. I'm still happy with second place. Grant held himself well and played solid,” said Murillo.

 

Leading final round scores

271 - Grant JACKSON (ENG) 68 68 64 71

275 - R. Nachimuthu (MAS) 70 69 68 68, Wolmer MURILLO (VEN) 66 68 69 72

276 - Nicholas FUNG (MAS) 66 69 70 71

279 - Airil Rizman ZAHARI (MAS) 71 68 69 71

280 - Ratchapol JANTAVARA (THA) 73 66 72 69

281 - Mitsuhiko HASHIZUME (JPN) 69 71 71 70, Rizal AMIN (MAS) 70 72 69 70

282 - Blake MCGRORY (AUS) 72 73 68 69, Daniel BRINGOLF (AUS) 70 69 73 70, CHANG Tse-Peng (TPE) 71 70 71 70

283 - Iain STEEL (MAS) 69 71 69 74

284 - Shaun MALONE (ENG) 71 69 76 68, Malcolm KOKOCINSKI (SWE) 74 71 69 70, James BOWEN (USA) 67 74 73 70, Wasin SRIPATTRANUSORN (THA) 72 70 71 71

285 - HSIEH Tung-shu (TPE) 68 72 76 69, Rashid ISMAIL (MAS) 67 74 74 70, P.Gunasegaran (MAS) 73 69 75 68, PARK Jin-Woo (KOR) 71 70 73 71, Hendre Izak CELLIERS (RSA) 69 70 74 72, Akhmal TARMIZEE (MAS) 69 71 72 73, LEE Cho-chuan (TPE) 71 68 72 74