THAI BIG-HITTER'S WIRE-TO-WIRE WIN IN MALAYSIAN OPEN
NEWS RELEASE FROM THE ASIAN TOUR
Kuala
Lumpur: Thailand’s Kiradech Aphibarnrat completed a
sensational wire-to-wire victory at the weather-shortened Maybank
Malaysian Open when he overcame a host of stars with a gutsy performance today.
The
big-hitting 23-year-old held his nerve for a battling two-under-par 70
to lift his second Asian Tour title by one-shot from Ryder Cup star
Edoardo Molinari of Italy, who signed off with a 67, at the Kuala Lumpur
Golf and Country Club.
Anders
Hansen of Denmark shot a 66 to finish two shots back while 2011 Masters
champion Charl Schwartzel of South Africa settled for tied fourth
position following a 71 in the US$2.75 million championship sanctioned
by the Asian Tour and European Tour.
Kiradech,
who is the fourth Thai after Thongchai Jaidee, Thaworn Wiratchant and
Chapchai Nirat to win a co-sanctioned tournament, said:
“I’m so happy
this week. I’m proud of myself and for my family. I almost won here a
few years ago (2010) and finally I made it. I’m so happy."
With
a winner’s cheque of US$458,330, Kiradech jumped to the top of the
Asian Tour’s Order of Merit with his season’s haul of US$594,230.
The
burly Thai, dubbed Asia’s John Daly due to his physique and style of
play, had to overcome tiredness because of a thyroid problem and four
days of weather disruptions to prevail at the Maybank Malaysian Open
which was reduced into a three-round tournament.
He
led by one shot through 15 holes of the third and final round when play
was suspended for two hours because of a lightning storm and came back
out shaking at the prospects of winning his career’s biggest title yet.
He birdied the 16th
hole upon the resumption of play from four feet to open up a two-shot
advantage and then enjoyed a stroke of fortune when his approach into
the 17th green ended just a few feet from the water hazard.
After leaving his chip some 15 feet short of the flag, Kiradech drained
his par putt and celebrated with a clenched fist.
Playing
it safe with an iron off the tee on the last, a closing bogey did not
matter as his three-day total of 13-under-par 203 was one clear of
Molinari.
“After
I made birdie on 16, I knew I had a chance to win. But in golf, you
can’t say you can win when you’re not finished. I was lucky my ball was
still safe (on 17). If it rolled into the hazard, it would be tough to
win. But I concentrated hard on 18. I’ve played here for about 20 times,
and on 18, I think I’ve birdied it more than 10 times. Bogey was so
tough but it was good enough to win,” said a beaming Kiradech
“During
the suspension, I couldn’t eat anything. I was so excited. When I
walked out, everything was shaking, even my voice. My caddie told me to
just concentrate, just two more holes. I’m lucky that I played only 54
holes. Otherwise, I am so tired due to the weather and the golf course.”
Molinari, who was getting ready to warm up for a possible play-off, was disappointed he only made par at the closing 18th
hole after a wayward drive. “I felt if I birdied the last I might have
won outright because it puts a lot of pressure on the guy coming up
behind,” said the Italian.
“It’s
mixed emotions because I’m very happy to have a good week for the first
time in a long time. The swing changes (with new coach Sean Foley) are
starting to pay off which is surprising because I thought it would take a
lot longer.
"But I’m disappointed because I had a lot of chances on the
back nine. The 18th is only the second fairway I missed all day which is
very disappointing.”
Schwartzel,
playing in the last group with Kiradech, rued the missed opportunity to
emulate countryman Louis Oosthuizen, who won the Maybank Malaysian Open
last season.
“It was disappointing. It’s a hard week with being on and
off the course the whole time. It’s difficult to find any rhythm. I feel
like I swung the club pretty well, but I didn’t play that well today,”
said the South African, who was searching for his second title in Asia
after winning the Thailand Golf Championship last December.
“I
was hitting terrible iron shots from the middle of the fairways. That’s
usually my strength. For some reason I was hitting short irons all over the
shop. What can I do? Kiradech did well. I would’ve liked to have applied
a bit more pressure on him.”
LEADING FINAL TOTALS
Par 216 (3x72) Yardage 6,967
203 Kiradech APHIBARNRAT (THA) 65-68-70.
204 Edoardo MOLINARI (ITA) 66-71-67.
205 Anders HANSEN (DEN) 66-73-66.
206 Victor DUBUISSON (FRA) 67-69-70, Charl SCHWARTZEL (RSA) 67-68-71.
207 Pablo LARRAZABAL (ESP) 69-70-68, Mark FOSTER (ENG) 69-69-69,
Alexander NOREN (SWE) 69-68-70, David HOWELL (ENG) 69-68-70, Padraig
HARRINGTON (IRL) 69-68-70.
208 Thomas AIKEN (RSA) 71-71-66, Joonas GRANBERG (FIN) 71-68-69, Peter
LAWRIE (IRL) 68-69-71, Tommy FLEETWOOD (ENG) 70-66-72, Gregory BOURDY
(FRA) 66-69-73, WU Ashun (CHN) 67-68-73.
209 Jeev Milkha SINGH (IND) 71-70-68, Mikko ILONEN (FIN) 70-70-69, Matteo
MANASSERO (ITA) 69-71-69, Lee SLATTERY (ENG) 68-70-71, Scott JAMIESON
(SCO) 66-72-71 (26, 239 Euros each).
210 Gavin GREEN (am, MAS) 73-68-69, Joost LUITEN (NED) 69-71-70, Shiv
KAPUR (IND) 72-71-67, Rafa CABRERA-BELLO (ESP) 72-67-71, LIANG Wen-chong
(CHN) 70-68-72, Stephen GALLACHER (SCO) 71-73-66 (22,497 Euros each)
211 Ignacio GARRIDO (ESP) 70-71-70, Alvaro QUIROS (ESP) 75-67-69, Alastair FORSYTH (SCO) 69-70-72, Prom MEESAWAT (THA) 68-71-72, Jbe KRUGER (RSA) 73-71-67 (19,343 Euros each).
211 Ignacio GARRIDO (ESP) 70-71-70, Alvaro QUIROS (ESP) 75-67-69, Alastair FORSYTH (SCO) 69-70-72, Prom MEESAWAT (THA) 68-71-72, Jbe KRUGER (RSA) 73-71-67 (19,343 Euros each).
Labels: ASIAN TOUR
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