ENGLISHMAN DEDICATES VICTORY TO LATE FATHER

 STEVE LEWTON WINS FIRST ASIAN 

TOUR TITLE - TAIWAN MASTERS

Taipei: England’s Steve Lewton won his maiden Asian Tour title at the US$650,000 Mercuries Taiwan Masters after closing with a one-under-par 71 and dedicated the win to his late father on Sunday.
Lewton held on to his overnight lead after posting five birdies against four bogeys for a five-under-par 283 total to win by two shots at the challenging Taiwan Golf and Country Club’s Tamsui course.
Brazil’s Adilson Da Silva and Filipino veteran Antonio Lascuna settled for a share of second place after carding identical 72s at the long-running Mercuries Taiwan Masters, which is celebrating its 28^th edition this week.
Unho Park of Australia capped his best finish on the Asian Tour so far this season when he registered a 72 to take fourth place on 286 alongside 2004 Mercuries Taiwan Masters winner, Thaworn Wiratchant of Thailand.
Lewton, who pocketed US $130,000 from his victory said, “It’s been quite a tough year for me. I lost my father at the start of the year. He was diagnosed with bile cancer about two years ago and passed away earlier in January. He was my best friend and he was also an avid golfer.
“He kept me going in golf when I was struggling in the past few years. It’s a real shame that he’s not here anymore to witness this but I’m sure he will be happy for me wherever he is,” said an emotional Lewton.
Lewton has been plying his trade on the Asian Tour since graduating from Qualifying School in 2012 and was delighted to win his first title at the Mercuries Taiwan Masters, an event which he missed the cut in the last two editions.
“It’s strange that I didn’t feel any pressure during the round, maybe because I didn’t get to see a lot of scoreboards out there.
"The crowd was fantastic. Everyone was cheering and clapping. They kept me upbeat in the game but I thought I will just keep doing what I am doing. It’s just amazing to win this kind of stressful event,” said the 31-year-old.
The Mercuries Taiwan Masters is the penultimate tournament for players to qualify for the CIMB Classic and WGC-HSBC Champions.
As of October 20, the leading four golfers from the Order of Merit will earn starting places in the US$8.5 million HSBC Champions while the leading 10 players will qualify for the US$7 million CIMB Classic.

LEADING FINAL TOTALS
Par 288 (4x72) Yardage 6,923
283 Steve LEWTON (ENG) 70-72-70-71.
285 Adilson DA SILVA (BRA) 75-66-72-72, Antonio LASCUNA (PHI) 75-69-69-72.
286 Thaworn WIRATCHANT (THA) 72-73-70-71, Unho PARK (AUS) 72-72-70-72.
288 Chapchai NIRAT (THA) 75-71-72-70, Javi COLOMO (ESP) 72-74-69-73, Cameron SMITH (AUS) 72-72-70-74.
289 Angelo QUE (PHI) 75-73-71-70, Rahil GANGJEE (IND) 74-71-70-74.
290 Andrew DODT (AUS) 74-70-73-73.
291 Wolmer MURILLO (VEN) 76-71-74-70, Sam BRAZEL (AUS) 72-74-74-71, Marcus BOTH (AUS) 71-73-73-74, LU Wen-teh (TPE) 74-72-70-75.
292 Simon GRIFFITHS (ENG) 74-75-72-71, LU Wei-chih (TPE) 73-74-73-72, Sam CYR (USA) 71-74-71-76.
293 Elmer SALVADOR (PHI) 74-71-75-73, HSU Mong-nan (TPE) 77-70-73-73, Prom MEESAWAT (THA) 71-73-74-75, WANG Jeung-hun (KOR) 73-72-73-75.
294 HUNG Chien-yao (TPE) 75-72-75-72, YEH Wei-tze (TPE) 72-75-75-72, Jazz JANEWATTANANOND (THA) 73-73-74-74, ZHANG Lian-wei (CHN) 74-73-73-74, S.S.P CHOWRASIA (IND) 72-77-70-75.