Jordan Spieth finishes second in Singapore
Open, a shot behind South Korean winner
ASIAN TOUR NEWS RELEASE
Sentosa,
Singapore: South Korea’s Younghan Song survived a ‘crazy’
sleepless night by fending off the spirited challenge of world number
one Jordan Spieth
to win the US$1 million SMBC Singapore Open by one-shot on Monday.
Inclement
weather had caused multiple delays during the week, forcing the
Singapore showpiece into a Monday finish at the Sentosa Golf Club.
Song
was left to ponder about his crucial par save on 16 overnight as his
charge towards the prestigious title was halted there when the sirens
blew to signal
the suspension of play on Sunday afternoon.
“That
one night felt like a week! It was crazy. I couldn’t sleep and I was
constantly thinking about putting throughout the night,” said Song.
The South Korean bravely holed his putt when play resumed at 7.30am before going
on to close his finishing two holes with pars and sign off with a
one-under-par
70.
Song’s
winning total of 12-under-par 272 was also just enough to pip Spieth to
the title and avoid a potential play-off with the Texan, who had
earlier holed a tricky birdie putt on 18.
“I
read the line well on 16 and just maintained my composure on 17 and 18.
I knew the title was for me to lose as long as I don’t make any silly
mistakes.
“Looking
back, I think the suspension helped as the winds were starting to blow
hard yesterday and that might have made a difference,” said Song.
Spieth
did not disappoint the early morning crowd when he sank his birdie putt
on 18 to pile the pressure on Song, who still had two holes left to
play.
However,
he left it a little too late as it was not enough to get him into a
sudden-death shootout with the South Korean, who would cling onto his slender
advantage
to eventually win.
“I went to the putting green to practise early in the morning as I knew I had to get that birdie to force a play-off.
“It
was nerve-racking and I was happy I managed to stroke the ball well and
it went in. I made some poor decisions in the middle two rounds as I
was trying
to do a little too much. But overall, it has been a great experience
and I had a really good time here,” said Spieth.
China’s
Liang Wen-chong finished in outright third place after a 69 while
Philippines’ Miguel Tabeuna shared fourth place with Japan’s Shintaro
Kobayashi on
275 total.
“This
is my first ever Monday finish. It has been a really long week. It was
tiring, mentally and physically. But I’m happy with my results. It’s a
great start
to the season.
“I know I am capable of doing good things, especially finishing so close to the world number one,” said Tabuena.
FINAL TOTALS
par 284 (4x71) Yardage 7,398
272 - Younghan SONG (SKOR) 70-63-69-70.
273 - Jordan SPIETH (USA) 67-70-70-66.
274 - LIANG Wen-chong (CHN) 71-67-67-69.
275 - Miguel TABUENA (PHI) 69-67-71-68, Shintaro KOBAYASHI (JPN) 66-69-69-71.
276 - Jeunghun WANG (SKOR) 73-67-67-69, Hideto TANIHARA (JPN) 68-67-71-70.
277 - LEE Won-joon (AUS) 71-69-67-70, Chapchai NIRAT (THA) 69-70-71-67, Brett MUNSON (USA) 71-67-70-69.
278 - Masahiro KAWAMURA (JPN) 70-70-70-68, Sam BRAZEL (AUS) 72-67-70-69, Jazz JANEWATTANANOND (THA) 70-73-68-67.
279
- Yoshinori FUJIMOTO (JPN) 74-68-68-69, Richard T. LEE (CAN)
70-72-71-66, Berry HENSON (USA) 66-73-69-71, Jinho CHOI (SKOR)
69-69-70-71.
280 - Akio SADAKATA (JPN) 70-71-66-73, Paul PETERSON (USA) 68-70-70-72, Keith HORNE (RSA) 66-68-74-72.
281 - Juvic PAGUNSAN (PHI) 70-70-74-67, Ippei KOIKE (JPN) 71-71-71-68.
282
- Daisuke KATAOKA (JPN) 72-68-70-72, Yuta IKEDA (JPN) 70-69-71-72,
Himmat RAI (IND) 70-69-73-70, Niall TURNER (IRL) 70-72-72-68, Sanghyun
PARK (KOR) 70-69-72-71.
283
- Carlos PIGEM (ESP) 70-71-72-70, Antonio LASCUNA (PHI) 73-68-71-71,
Yusaku MIYAZATO (JPN) 71-68-71-73, Adilson DA SILVA (BRA) 70-72-69-72,
Natipong SRITHONG
(THA) 69-73-71-70, Satoshi KODAIRA (JPN) 72-67-73-71.
Labels: ASIAN TOUR