HAAS BEATS MAHAN AT THIRD HOLE OF PLAY-OFF AT ATLANTA

Americans Bill Haas and Hunter Mahan tied on 272 at the end of four rounds of the Tour Championship at Atlanta.
After the first two sudden-death play-off holes were halved, the third extra hole (the par-3 18th) was won by Haas with a par 3. Mahan was bunkered greenside and couldn't get up and down.
LEADING FINAL TOTALS
272 Bill Haas (US) 68 67 69 68, Hunter Mahan (US) 67 68 66 71 (Haas won play-off at third extra hole)
273 Luke Donald (England) 66 68 70 69, K J Choi (S Korea) 68 65 70 70, Aaron Baddeley (Australia) 68 69 64 72.
274 Charles Howell III (US) 67 71 68 68, Adam Scott (Australia) 67 65 74 68, Jason Day (Australia) 67 67 69 71.
275 Bo Van Pelt (US) 71 70 66 68.
276 Phil Mickelson (US) 68 70 67 71.
SELECTED FINAL TOTAL
281 Justin Rose (England) 69 75 70 67 (T20).

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RENFREWSHIRE DRAW WITH LANARKSHIRE A AT COCHRANE CASTLE

Renfrewshire drew with Lanarkshire A team 5-5 today at Cochrane Castle in the second round of West of Scotland inter-county fixtures.
Results (Renfrewshire names first)
M Clark (Kilmacolm) lost to J Steven (Bothwell Castle) 1 hole
S Binning (Ranfurly) lost to S Rennie (Drumpellier) 3 and 2.
M Campbell (Renfrew) halved A McDonald (Crow Wood)
D Anderson (Cochrane Castle) lost tp S Henderson (Hamilton) 2 and 1.
G Munro (Ranfurly) lost to C Ross Kirkhill 4 and 3.
Gary Price (Paisley) bt M Dubber (Bothwell Castle) 4 and 3.
M Dailly (Erskine) bt S Douglas (Drumpellier) 3 and 2.
Jim Smart (Paisley) bt C Kerr (Cambuslang) 4 and 3.
S Robertson (Cochrane Castle) bt David Ford (Airdrie) 6 and 5.
Alan Kelly (Cochrane Castle) halved with Eamon Bradley (Mount Ellen).

Lanarkshire entertain Ayrshire next Sunday at Colville Park.

Willie Sharp
President
Lanarkshire Golf Association

LITTLE GOES A LONG WAY WITH CHALLENGE TOUR WIN IN FRANCE

EUROPEAN CHALLENGE TOUR REPORT

By SCOTT CROCKETT, Chief European Tour Press Officer 

Sam Little proved he truly is the European Challenge Tour’s man of the moment with victory in the Allianz Golf Open Grand Toulouse in south west France, his second victory in consecutive weeks.

Seven days ago, the 36 year old Londoner showed his credentials with a stunning win in the M2M Russian Challenge Cup in Moscow and he was on the title trail once again at Golf de Toulouse-Seilh, a closing 68 giving him a 16 under par total of 268 and a one shot victory over Ireland’s Simon Thornton who carded a 69 for 269.

Having been 43^rd in the Rankings two weeks ago and well outside the top 20 who automatically win a card for The 2012 European Tour, the back-to-back triumphs have propelled Little to second place, now only a mere €12,732 behind leader, fellow Englishman Tommy Fleetwood.

“This year has been hard for me, not being on The European Tour where I played for six years between 2005 and 2010,” said Little, who picked up a cheque for €25,600 for his latest triumph.

 “Winning my card back was always the goal and now I have that secured, I really want to try and win the Rankings outright. I will take a week off next week to spend some time with the family but then it will be back in action and a big push over the final three tournaments of the year.

 “But this is really great. I was tired after Moscow and I did give some consideration to pulling out of the tournament but I had good feelings after the win in Russia and I thought it was best to come here to France and try to feed off them.

“I didn’t have the best start to the final round but I chipped in for birdie at the fourth and that got me going and it needless to say I am totally delighted to be standing here with the trophy again.”

 While a handful of players were in contention at the start of the final round, it quickly became a two horse race between Little and Thornton, the 34 year old Irishman looking for his first Challenge Tour triumph.

Into the back nine, it looked like that eventuality might be about to become true until the 13^th hole turned the contest on its head.

One shot clear, Thornton found the greenside bunker from where he could do no better than bogey five at the same time as Little found the centre of the green with a six iron and drained the resulting 20 footer for a birdie three.

From one behind to one in front, Little seized the advantage and when he holed from 12 feet at the 15^th for a birdie two, he was two clear with three to play. He allowed Thornton a chink of light with a bogey six at the 17^th, but a par three at the last was good enough for victory.

For Thornton, who like Little will take next week’s tournament in the Canary Islands off, the consolation was the €17,600 he picked up for second place moved him from 25^th place to 12^th on the Rankings and in with an excellent chance of now finishing in the top 20 at the end of the season.

“It would have been nice to go one better and get the win today but it just wasn’t to be but I’m pleased with the move I’ve made in the rankings,” said the Irishman. “I played okay today and I thought I might have a chance but I just didn’t putt as well as I had done earlier in the week.”

Third place was shared between Englishman Matthew Baldwin and Frenchman Julien Quesne who closed with 69 and 68 respectively for a 14 under par total of 270.

Just as with Little and Thornton, they also made significant strides up the Rankings; Baldwin moving from 29^th to 22^nd place while Quesne moved from 35^th to 26^th.

FINAL TOTALS

Par 284 (4x71)

268 S Little (Eng) 66 68 66 68, (€25,600)

269 S Thornton (Irl) 66 67 67 69, (€17,600)

270 J Quesne  (Fra) 67 66 69 68, M Baldwin (Eng) 67 63 71 69, (€10,400 each)

271 O David  (Fra) 69 65 70 67, G Lockerbie  (Eng) 69 64 68 70, (€7,200 each)

272 M Evans (Eng) 69 67 67 69, P Archer (Eng) 69 68 67 68, E Kofstad (Nor) 65 70 66 71, F Delamontagne  (Fra) 68 70 68 66

273 L Canter (Eng) 70 68 67 68, C Brazillier  (Fra) 62 70 71 70, A Schwartz (am) (Fra) 70 67 67 69

274 A Marshall (Eng) 67 69 70 68, E Pepperell (Eng) 69 68 66 71, D Perrier (Fra) 66 67 71 70, M Lorenzo-Vera  (Fra) 69 69 66 70, L Jensen (Den) 65 72 67 70

275 N Meitinger  (Ger) 67 68 72 68, M Delpodio  (Ita) 73 67 70 65, C Lee (Sco) 68 70 67 70, A Högberg (Swe) 73 67 66 69, A Pavan (Ita) 70 69 65 71,

276 A Tampion  (Aus) 70 69 67 70, V Riu  (Fra) 68 65 73 70, J Lagergren (Swe) 68 67 72 69, J Byrne  (Sco) 65 72 71 68, A Tadini (Ita) 69 70 66 71, O Whiteley (Eng) 68 69 67 72, C Doak (Sco) 69 67 70 70, T Ferreira  (RSA) 71 65 70 70

277 J Remesy (Fra) 69 71 64 73, M Erlandsson (Swe) 68 70 70 69, S Hutsby  (Eng) 66 72 70 69

278 J Bragulat  (Esp) 70 67 70 71, G Houston (Wal) 69 66 68 75

279 M Southgate  (Eng) 68 67 72 72, A Snobeck  (Fra) 71 69 69 70, P Gustafsson (Swe) 73 67 72 67

280 D Brooks (Eng) 70 68 70 72, E Chaudouet (Fra) 68 71 69 72, P Del Grosso  (Arg) 70 67 73 70, J Hepworth (Eng) 70 69 69 72, R Wingardh (Swe) 65 67 74 74, C Russo (Fra) 69 69 69 73, J Heath  (Eng) 72 65 71 72,

281 A Hansen  (Den) 69 68 71 73, B Parker  (Eng) 65 71 70 75, F Colombo (Ita) 73 67 70 71, J Lima  (Por) 68 72 71 70, B Chapellan (Fra) 72 66 72 71, F Calmels  (Fra) 69 68 70 74, C Paisley  (Eng) 69 71 68 73,

282 B Ritthammer (Ger) 69 69 69 75, C Ford (Eng) 74 65 67 76, A Domingo (Esp) 69 68 70 75,

283 C Gane (Eng) 69 69 70 75, I Giner (Esp) 71 68 72 72, A Bossert (Sui) 69 70 72 72,

284 J Van Der Vaart (Ned) 70 69 70 75, S Bebb (Wal) 74 66 69 75,

285 A Butterfield (Eng) 74 65 73 73, B Teilleria (Fra) 72 66 74 73,

287 N Kearney (Irl) 69 70 74 74,

290 C Judlin (Fra) 72 66 77 75,

291 N Lombardi (Ita) 67 72 76 76,

HAMILTON INSPIRES BALLOCHMYLE TO SCOTTISH CLUB TITLE

       CLUB CHAMPIONS OF SCOTLAND ... BALLOCHMYLE GOLF CLUB'S WINNING TRIO

By COLIN FARQUHARSON
Colin@scottishgolfview.com
Ayrshire's Ballochmyle won the Scottish Club Championship grand final at Falkirk Tryst today for the first time, on the back of a superb individual performance from last year's Scottish mid-amateur champion Craig Hamilton.
Hamilton shot rounds of 65 and 66 for a tottal of 131 - nine under par, and against a combined CSS of 142 (70 am, 72 pm).
He was ably backed up by Graeme Rowan (75-74) and William Fleming (79-73) to produce a two-from-three best score format of 140 in the first round and 139 in the second and a total of 279.
That gave them the trophy and a ticket to next year's European Club Championship Final by four shots from runners-up Blairgowrie with another Angus team, Edzell, third and Duddingston fourth.
Former Scottish champion Glenn Campbell was Blairgowrie's mainstay with rounds of 70 and 68 for 138. His team-mates were Stuart Graham (71-76) and George Brass (73-74). They scored 141 in the first round and 142 in the second for a total of 283.
Edzell finished on 285 (142-143) with a team of William Bremner (70-71), Gary Tough (72-72) and Barry Petrie (75-76).
Duddingston came fourth on 286 (142-144) with David Miller (68-75), Gary Thomson (74-74) and Derrick Williams (78-70).
Elderslie were the first-round leaders with 140 but scored 148 in the afternoon and finished sixth on 288.

FINAL TOTALS
279 Ballochmyle 140 139.
283 Blairgowrie 141 142.
285 Edzell 142 143.
286 Duddingston 142 144
288 Dumbarton 145 145, Elderslie 140 148.
292 Bon Accord 143 149.
293 Hawick 145 148.
295 Cawder 144 151.
296 Alva 145 151, Fortrose and Rosemarkie 145 151.
297 Kilsyth Lennox 151 146.
300 Wigtownshire County 151 149.
305 Scotscraig 152 153.
308 Bothwell Castle 151 156, Machrihanish 159 148.

FERRIE BEATS WAKEFIELD IN PLAY-OFF TO WIN AUSTRIAN OPEN

FROM THE EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE
Kenneth Ferrie from the North-east of England overcame compatriot Simon Wakefield in a play-off to win the Austrian Open presented by Lyoness after an exhilarating final round.
The English pair both finished 12 under par for the week at Diamond Country Club before Ferrie triumphed at the first extra hole.
The final round was packed with drama – rookie Dane Thomas Nørret clinging to his overnight lead until a double bogey 7 at the 13th eventually saw his challenge unravel.
Ferrie (pictured right), Wakefield and Dutchman Joost Luiten all advanced to 12 under, but 25 year old Luiten three-putted the last to hand the initiative to the English duo in the group behind.
Wakefield failed to get up and down at the 17th, leaving Ferrie one ahead coming down the last.
Last year’s Qualifying School winner Wakefield responded with a magnificent approach from the rough to six feet, but Ferrie responded with an effort to eight feet.
With a putt for the title, the 32 year old Ferrie handed his playing partner a reprieve when he missed.
Wakefield took full advantage and the momentum looked to have swung his way when they returned to the 18th, his drive splitting the fairway as Ferrie drove into the left rough.
But Ferrie produced an approach to six feet, Wakefield overshot the green and when he failed to get up-and-down Ferrie had two putts for the title, although he only needed one.
The win comes after a difficult five years for the 2005 European Open champion, who endured a difficult couple of seasons on the US PGA Tour and only kept his European Tour card thanks to a strong finish last season.
“I feel amazing right now,” said Ferrie. “I haven’t won for six years and I was wondering if it was ever going to happen in the end. To get it done was fantastic.
“It means the world to me. I have been working very hard and doing all the right things but I just haven’t had the results to back it up. So to win here, under the pressure of a play-off, is amazing and it makes all the hard work worthwhile.”
While Wakefield’s wait for a maiden European Tour title goes on, he can at least take some comfort from the fact that he is now well within the top 115 on The Race to Dubai who keep their cards, having started the week 145th.
“I said yesterday that I had to come out here and play my normal game and I did just that,” he said.
“It was the bogey at 17 that eventually undid me, but then to hit it to two feet at the last with a five iron and then make the putt to force the play-off was great.
“At the end of the day, if you shoot five under on the final day playing in the final group then it is diffcult to take but I am happy with the way the week has gone.”
Nørret significantly improved his previous best European Tour finish of 16th by taking fourth, while there was a top-ten finish in his first professional event for 20 year old Walker Cup star Tom Lewis.

TO VIEW ALL THE FINAL TOTALS AND PRIZE MONEY ALLOCATION ON THE EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE

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LATE-FINISHER LAWRENCE LEADS WITH PAR 70 AT DORNOCH

By COLIN FARQUHARSON
Colin@scottishgolfview.com

Just when it seemed that nobody was going to be able to match the par of 70 over Royal Dornoch's world-ranked links in breezy conditions, late in the day Newmachar's Martin Lawrence did the trick to lead the Sandy Pipey Young Masters field by one stroke at the halfway stage.
Lawrence birdied the short second but a double bogey 5 at the short sixth set him back a bit but he got into his stride again with birdies at the 11th and short 13th.
He dropped one at the 14th but birdied the 17th before a bogey at the last robbed him a two-stroke overnight lead.
In joint second place on 71 are Joel Hopwood (Carnegie Club) from the nearby Skibo Castle, Graham Forbes (Gourock) and Mark Kerr (Murrayfield).
Both Hopwood and Kerr will be rueing double-bogeys, Joel at the 18th and Mark at the 11th.
Hopwood, who in midweek made the long drive to Braemar to win the North-east Alliance competition, had birdies at the first, third, 15th and 17th, Kerr at the long 12th and 15th.
Forbes had only three deviations from par - a birdie at the long 12th ane bogeys at the third and 10th.

FIRST-ROUND LEADING SCORES
Par 70
70 Martin Lawrence (Newmachar).
71 Joel Hopwood (Carnegie Club), Mark Kerr (Murrayfield), Graham Forbes (Gourock).
72 Nikki Christie (Carnoustie).
73 Gordon Hillson (Dunbar), Malcolm Murray (Bearsden).
74 Graeme Brown (Montrose), Michael Patterson (Kilmacolm), Neil Fenwick (Dunbar), Ross McConnachie (Peterculter)
75 Scott Herald (Adam Hunter Golf), Nicky Sinclair (Prestwick).
76 Sam McLaren (Crieff), Terry Mathieson (Murcar Links), Stuart Williamson (Nairn Dunbar), Andrew Munro (Musselburgh), Grant Smith (Glneagles), Sven Nielsen (Turnberry), Sean Bissett (Renaissance Club), Christ Brown (Kemnay).
77 Ross Dixon (Renaissance Club), Lewis Burnett (Adam Hunter Golf), Michael Maxwell (Carnoustie), Graeme Nethercott).
78 Martin Shaw (Kilmarnock Barassie), Ross Macleod (Eastwood), Matthew Burt (Helensburgh), Andrew Rollo (Moray), Patrick Walker (St Andrews Links Golf Academy), Graham Mackay (Prestonfield), Fraser Clarke (Newmachar0.

NEWS RELEASE ISSUED BY PGA SCOTLAND

Brora breaks new ground for PGA Scotland's

Northern Links Challenge

History will be made this coming week with the staging of the two-day, Callaway-backed, “Northern Links Challenge” at Tain and Brora Golf Clubs, with the latter being believed to be the most northerly golf course to stage a professional tournament on the British mainland.
The 36-hole tournament is a significant one for the leading Professionals in the country, as it is one of the eight events which comprise the 2011 PGA Scotland Order of Merit. Nearly 70 players have entered as they jostle for a position within the rankings which decides their status for next season.
Amongst the favourites will be Banchory-based Greig Hutcheon, winner of the 2010 Order of Merit, and the man aiming to take his crown, Hayston’s Stephen Gray. Gray who was runner-up in the Northern Open at Meldrum House earlier this month, current leads the Order of Merit standings, and, with over £30,000 to his name this season already, also tops the Money List.
Ironically, the duo have been paired in the same group for the first round at Tain on Tuesday, and will tee off at 11.40.
Other contenders include Scott Henderson (Kings Links) winner of the Carnegie Invitational at Skibo Castle a fortnight ago, and the in-form Paul McKechnie from Braid Hills Golf Range.
There is no shortage of local interest either with players representing Tain, Dornoch, Nairn Dunbar, Inverness, the North Highland College and the Carnegie Club all included in the field.
Tain Professional Stuart Morrison will be looking to take advantage of his local knowledge, as will the Carnegie Club’s Jody Rostock, a former club champion during his amateur days. Also in the field is Ross MacLeod, now a trainee at Eastwood Golf Club, whose father is the Head Green-keeper at Tain.
Play gets underway at Tain at 8.30am on Tuesday, before the tournament is completed with the second round at Brora on Wednesday. There will be a re-draw for the pairings in the second round, with the leaders going out last at approximately midday.

NEWMACHAR KEEP NORTHERN COUNTIES CUP

WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS - AGAIN!                           Picture by courtesy of tournament director Eddie Sherwood                   Left to right: Chris Simpson, Mark McKechnie, John Duff and Richard Barr. Newmachar's Mark McKechnie, Chris Simpson, John Duff and Richard Barr retained the Northern Counties Cup in the 100th staging of the inter-club double foursomes match-play golf tournament over the Moray Golf Club's Old Course links at Lossiemouth on Saturday. The last club to win the trophy two years in a row was Elgin in 1995-96. From a field of 40 teams, the final came down to Newmachar v Brora in the final - and Newmachar won by an aggregate of four holes. McKechnie and Simpson finished two up on Liam MacDonald and Euan Polson, while Duff and Barr were also two up on James McBeath and Ian Stewart. Next year's Northern Counties Cup three-day tournament will be hosted by Royal Aberdeen Golf Club.  SATURDAY'S RESULTS  Moray Golf Club Old Course, Lossiemouth Semi-finals Newmachar bt Meldrum House by two holes. Mark McKechnie, Chris Simpson 0, G Watson, C McCombie 0. J Duff, R Barr 3, N Robson, C Brodie 0.  Brora bt McDonald Ellon by seven holes. Liam MacDonald, Euan Polson 3, M Stewart, Chris Gilbert 0. James McBeath, Ian Stewart 4, Kevin Duncan, Adam Dunton 0). Final Newmachar bt Brora by four holes McKechnie, Simpson 2, MacDonald, Polson 0. Duff, Barr 2, McBeath, Stewart 0.

DAVID LAW FINISHES TOP SCOT AND FIFTH IN TURKISH CH/SHIP

Scotttish amateur champion David Law (Hazlehead) finished fifth in the Turkish men's amateur international golf championship at Antalya Golf Club in Turkey today (Sunday).

Law started the fourth and last round in fifth place and a par-matching 71 to close failed to make any ground on the leaders. His earlier rounds were 70, 72 and 68.

The winner was Daan Huizing from the Netherlands who moved up from joint third overnight with a final round of 68 for eight-under-par 276, winning by three shots from two Germans, Marcel Sneider and Moritz Lambert. amd a Frenchman Mathieu Decottignies-Lafon, all on 279.

The Scottish Golf Union sent eight players to the championship with a eye on next year's defence of the Eisenhower Trophy - the men's world amateur team championship - at the same course in Turkey.
Second best among the Scots was Brian Soutar (Leven Golfing Society) who finished joint eighth on 285 with rounds of 71, 70, 75 an d69.
Another Fifer, Scott Crichton (Aberdour) squeezed into the top 20 - joint 19th to be precise - with scores of 77, 70, 73 and 69 for 289.
South-east District Open winner Graeme Robertson (Glenbervie) finished joint 21st on 290 (72-70-74-74); James White (Lundin) 29th on 292 (74-73-72-73) Paul Shields (Kirkhill) joint 40th on 299 (77-75-73-74), Connor O'Neil (Pollok) joint 46th on 301 (78-73-76-74) and Fraser McKenna (Balmore) joint 53rd in a field of 61 players with socres of 79, 76, 73 and 77 for 305.

LEADING FINAL TOTALS
Par 284 (4x71)
276 Daan Huizing (Net) 75 66 67 68.
279 Marcel Sneider (Ger) 68 68 71 72, Mathieu Decottignies-Lafon (Fra) 72 71 66 70, Moritz Lambert (Ger) 73 65 75 66.
281 David Law (Hazlehead) 70 72 68 71.

OTHER SCOTS' SCORES

285 Brian Soutar (Leven GS) 71 70 75 69 (T8).

289 Scott Crichton (Aberdour) 77 70 73 69 (T19).

290 Graeme Robertson (Glenbervie) 72 70 74 74 (T21).

292 James White (Lundin) 74 73 72 73 (29th).

299 Paul Shields (Kirkhill) 77 75 73 74 (T40).

301 Connor O'Neil (Pollok) 78 73 76 74 (T46).

305 Fraser McKenna (Balmore) 79 76 73 77 (T53).

DUTCHMAN VAN DER VALK WINS BY SEVEN AT KUALA LUMPUR

NEWS RELEASE ISSUED BY ASIAN TOUR
Kuala Lumpur: Dutchman Guido Van Der Valk ended a seven-year winless run with a majestic seven-shot victory at the PGM-MIDF-KLGCC Classic on the Asian Development Tour on Sunday.
The 31-year-old comfortably preserved his overnight seven-shot cushion at the Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club’s West course, signing off with a closing one-over-par 73 to complete a wire-to-wire victory in the RM200,000 (approximately US$66,000) tournament.
Filipino Gerald Rosales failed to mount a challenge as he settled for second place in what was the eighth and final leg of the 2011 ADT season, closing with a 73.
With three Asian Tour cards at stake for the top-three finishers of the ADT Order of Merit, American Jonathan Moore comfortably finished top of the rankings with US$29, 579 after coming in fourth here.
Chinese Taipei’s Chiang Chen-chih took second place with a season haul of US$23,341 but countryman Kao Shang-hung had to endure a nervous wait before sealing third spot with US$19,874 when closest rival Takafumi Kawane of Japan failed to secure the top-four finish required to pip Kao for a priceless Asian Tour card.
Van Der Valk was over the moon with his victory, which was his career fifth but first since the Dutch PGA Championship in 2004. He accumulated a four-day total of seven-under-par 281.
“It’s awesome, it’s a good feeling,” smiled Van Der Valk, who came into the week in good form after finishing tied second in the ISPS Handa Singapore Classic on the Asian Tour earlier in the month.
“It was nice to stay in control and it was nice to finish the job. It’s my first wire-to-wire win and I’m happy,” added the Dutchman, who earned US$10,594.
Rosales got the lead down to four shots after the sixth hole but never got closer than that. “Guido didn’t start good but when he birdied the seventh and eighth holes, it settled him down. He did what he had to do,” said the Filipino.
Moore, a former US Walker Cup player and competing in his debut season in Asia, was delighted to top the rankings in a season which included one victory in Malaysia and four other top-four performances.
“This is unexpected. I’m thankful as over a year ago, I started a new plan with some new coaches and things started to click. I’ve played well in the ADT events and it is awesome,” said the American.
“When I first got to Qualifying School in Thailand in January, I was nervous coming out of the airport and the quality of competition has been strong here. I’m thankful that my wife Claire caddied all year for me as it’s really hard work to carry that bag in this heat.”
Kao, winner of the Ballantine’s Taiwan Championship last month, was a relieved man as he maintained his third position on the Merit list to earn his Asian Tour card for 2012. “I’m happy. I was quite relaxed this morning as I felt that I would get in but the wait (to find out if he was through) was quite long,” he said.
“Competing on the ADT this season has been good as I gained more competitive experience. I’m going to give the Asian Tour another shot next year,” said Kao.
The best Malaysian finisher in the PGM-MIDF-KLGCC Classic was Nicholas Fung, who was fifth after a closing 77 for a 296 total.
The ADT was launched last year by the Asian Tour with five tournaments where the aim is to create a career pathway for professional golfers to get onto the Asian Tour.

FINAL TOTALS
Par 288 (4x72)
1 281 Guido VAN DER VALK Holland 71 70 67 73 $10,594.75
2 288 Gerald ROSALES Philippines 74 70 71 73 $7,126.23
3 289 Yosuke TSUKADA Japan 72 75 70 72 $4,351.42
4 293 Jonathan MOORE USA 74 72 73 74 $3,531.58
5 296 Nicholas FUNG Malaysia 71 74 74 77 $2,774.82
6 297 Marlon DIZON Philippines 73 73 79 72 $2,333.37
7= 299 T.J. KIM Korea 76 76 74 73 $1,797.32
7= 299 R. Nachimuthu Malaysia 75 73 74 77 $1,797.32
9= 300 S. Murthy Malaysia 75 73 80 72 $1,261.28
9= 300 M.Sasidaran Malaysia 76 76 73 75 $1,261.28
9= 300 Pawin INGKHAPRADIT Thailand 77 70 76 77 $1,261.28
9= 300 S.Siva Chandhran Malaysia 77 73 72 78 $1,261.28
13= 303 Sukree OTHMAN Malaysia 77 80 73 73 $852.41
13= 303 Zurie HARUN Malaysia 74 79 73 77 $852.41
13= 303 Takafumi KAWANE Japan 74 74 77 78 $852.41
13= 303 Michael MOORE Australia 77 74 74 78 $852.41
13= 303 John SHIN Canada 77 77 71 78 $852.41
13= 303 Rashid ISMAIL Malaysia 73 78 73 79 $852.41
19= 304 Shaifubari MUDA Malaysia 75 76 79 74 $682.35
19= 304 CHANG Tse-Peng Chinese Taipei 76 75 77 76 $682.35
19= 304 Matt JAGER Australia 75 74 77 78 $682.35
19= 304 Haziq HAMIZAN Malaysia 78 78 77 71 $682.35
19= 304 Wittawat SAE-UNG Thailand 75 76 72 81 $682.35
24= 305 Artemio Hiromasa MURAKAMI Philippines 72 79 78 76 $624.36
24= 305 KAO Shang-hung Taiwan 75 74 79 77 $624.36
26= 306 Mohd. Nazri MOHD ZAIN Malaysia 77 78 76 75 $605.41
26= 306 Kenneth DE SILVA (A) Malaysia 78 75 78 75 Amateur
28= 307 JOON CHOI Korea 77 80 74 76 $594.38
28= 307 Akhmal TARMIZEE Malaysia 73 74 78 82 $594.38
30= 308 Cash LEE Malaysia 75 76 78 79 $575.46
30= 308 Koichi MINAMI Japan 78 77 79 74 $575.46
32= 309 Paul SAN (A) Malaysia 75 76 79 79 Amateur
32= 309 Wilson CHOO Malaysia 79 76 75 79 $547.08
32= 309 Muhammad Al-Warith Malaysia 75 81 75 78 $547.08
32= 309 WANG Tsung-chieh Taiwan 80 76 78 75 $547.08
32= 309 Airil Rizman Malaysia 80 78 77 74 $547.08
37= 310 KHOR Kheng-Hwai Malaysia 79 78 72 81 $523.43
37= 310 Rizal AMIN Malaysia 77 75 80 78 $523.43
39 311 Sahal SAEDIN Malaysia 79 76 79 77 $513.97
40= 312 LEE Wei-Lin Chinese Taipei 77 77 78 80 $504.51
40= 312 Anis HASSAN Malaysia 77 80 76 79 $504.51
42 313 Alwi KAMARUDDIN Malaysia 81 77 79 76 $495.68
43= 315 S.Tamilchelvam Malaysia 82 72 79 82 $487.17
43= 315 Philip TAN Malaysia 79 78 82 76 $487.17
45 316 Zamri SARIFF Malaysia 80 77 77 82 $478.66
46 317 Hilmi ABD. RAHMAN Malaysia 75 78 82 82 $472.98
47= 318 Mohamad Azman BASHARUDIN (A) Malaysia 79 79 77 83 Amateur
47= 318 Jason VOON Malaysia 78 74 85 81 $462.26
47= 318 Scott PUZEY USA 79 78 80 81 $462.26
47= 318 Tommy CHIN Malaysia 77 80 80 81 $462.26
51 319 Dean GULTULA Thailand 76 81 85 77 $451.54
52= 321 KIM Young-Jin Korea 79 78 75 89 $443.97
52= 321 Nick PUGH England 81 77 81 82 $443.97
54 322 Andy CHOI Korea 78 78 90 76 $435.14
55 323 John PANG Malaysia 77 81 88 77 $428.84
56 326 Nick ANG Xia Ee (A) Malaysia 80 78 85 83 Amateur

HIRATSUKA WINS ASIA-PACIFIC PANASONIC OPEN

NEWS RELEASE ISSUED BY THE ASIAN TOURShiga Prefecture, Japan September 25: Japan’s Tetsuji Hiratsuka completed a dream week when he battled to victory by signing off with a four-under-par 67 to win the Asia-Pacific Panasonic Open on Sunday.
Hiratsuka closed with a eight-under-par 276 total to finish two shots clear of South Korea’s S.K Ho and Kim Do-hoon who signed for matching 279s at the ¥150,000,000 (approximately US$1.7 million) event jointly sanctioned by the Asian Tour and Japan Golf Tour.
South Africa’s Jbe Kruger could not find the finish that he wanted again when he closed with 73 to take a share of fourth place alongside Japan’s Daisuke Maruyama, Hiroyuki Fujita, Toshinori Muto and India’s Jeev Milkha Singh at the Biwako Country Club.
Starting the day four shots back of Ho in equal sixth place, Hiratsuka got off poorly with an opening bogey but he responded quickly with a birdie on the par-four third.
The Japanese turned in 35 after another bogey on the sixth hole and birdie on the par-four eighth.
However, it was a magical eagle 2 on the par four 11th that lifted him up to second place, one back of Ho with seven holes to play.
Hiratsuka then snatched the lead from under the nose of Ho with a vital birdie on the 13th hole before another birdie on 16th sealed his entry into the winner’s circle again.
“This has been a dream come true. I always like to win at home and I’m glad it finally happened his week,” said Hiratsuka.
“Nothing beats the home crowd cheering you on and it really motivated me to give my best today,” added the four-time Asian Tour winner.
Ho, who was the second round leader, was disappointed that he could not mount a serious title charge.
The South Korean conceded that he was let down by two bogeys in his closing 17th and 18th holes which could have forced a play-off with Hiratsuka.
“I was playing quite steadily today and it just all went wrong on the closing stretch. I drove the ball badly and they were very costly,” said Ho.
Meanwhile Kruger was left to rue another missed opportunity of lifting his first Asian Tour title
The 25-year-old, who held the opening round lead, conceded that his driving had let him down and visibly upset that he could not earn his maiden breakthrough again.
“Today was really bad. I just couldn’t find the fairways the whole week. I was hitting the driver all over the place,” said Kruger.
“If someone told me that I’ll get another top-10 at the start of the week, I would have taken it. But to end up like this is never nice,” added the South African.
LEADING FINAL TOTALS
Par 284 (4x71)
276 Tetsuji HIRATSUKA (JPN) 69-72-68-67.
279 KIM Do-hoon 752 (KOR) 69-69-73-68, S.K. HO (KOR) 67-66-73-73.
280 Toshinori MUTO (JPN) 68-71-72-69, Jeev Milkha SINGH (IND) 71-68-70-71, Hiroyuki FUJITA (JPN) 69-69-70-72, Jbe KRUGER (RSA) 64-71-72-73, Daisuke MARUYAMA (JPN) 67-70-68-75.
281 Azuma YANO (JPN) 74-68-70-69, Anthony KANG (USA) 75-68-67-71, Michio MATSUMURA (JPN) 68-71-67-75.
282 BAE Sang-moon (KOR) 67-69-75-71, Yoshinori FUJIMOTO (am, JPN) 69-72-70-71, Chinnarat PHADUNGSIL (THA) 74-69-66-73.
283 Toru TANIGUCHI (JPN) 73-71-71-68, KIM Kyung-tae (KOR) 72-68-74-69, Kiradech APHIBARNRAT (THA) 69-71-73-70, Thaworn WIRATCHANT (THA) 71-74-66-72, Brad KENNEDY (AUS) 69-73-68-73.
284 Tomohiro KONDO (JPN) 74-70-71-69, Katsumasa MIYAMOTO (JPN) 70-67-77-70, Pariya JUNHASAVASDIKUL (THA) 74-70-73-67, Danny CHIA (MAS) 69-72-71-72.
Selected scores
285 SIDDIKUR (BAN) 73-70-70-72, Chawalit PLAPHOL (THA) 71-69-71-74, Prom MEESAWAT (THA) 68-71-70-76.
287 Ryo ISHIKAWA (JPN) 71-70-73-73, Anirban LAHIRI (IND) 73-69-72-73,

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