Subang: Gavin Kyle Green claimed his second title in less than a week after fighting back to complete a successful title defence at the 25th MPI-Saujana Amateur Championship on Thursday.
The newly-crowned Malaysian Amateur Open champion closed with a round of one-over 73 to add a third Saujana Amateur title to his collection, becoming the first player since R. Nachimuthu in 1997 to lift successive titles at Saujana Golf & Country Club.
Green totalled three-under-par 213 to outduel Australia’s Oliver Goss (73) by two strokes. Singapore rising star Marc Ong and Cheh-Po Lee of Chinese Taipei were tied for third on 218 while local contender Arie Irawan Ahmad Fauzi, who started the round one stroke behind overnight leader Gavin, rued a cold putter as he completed his campaign with a nine-over 81 to stand in lone fifth.
It was no walk in the park for the 18-year-old freshman from University of New Mexico as he was forced to grind out a result after a
resurgent Goss threatened to steal the limelight.
The outward nine proved a nightmare for Green as he dropped three strokes through a double bogey and a bogey in successive holes to make the turn at 39 as the Perth-native moved level with a front nine of 37. “I was a bit wary after the initial two dropped shots and when I notched another bogey on the sixth, I told myself to calm down and get my game working again. Luckily, I managed to get an immediate response with a birdie on the seventh,” said Green.
Goss moved two shots clear on the 12th after a birdie as the Malaysian dropped another shot but the local favourite hauled himself in front with three successive birdies from hole 13th. The pair then exchanged a bogey each on the 16th and 17th before Green sealed a tough-earned victory with a tricky downhill 10-footer birdie on the last.
“At the 17th I knew I was one-up and decided to play the dogleg hole in regulation. Had I been behind, I would certainly have gone for the green but at the end, a birdie was a fine way to finish off a tough contest,” admitted Green, who noted that he will take a short holiday before heading back to the United States later next week.
Leading final round scores (Malaysians unless indicated)
213 Gavin Kyle Green 71-69-73
215 Oliver Goss (AUS) 68-74-73
218 Marc Ong (SIN) 75-72-71, Chieh-Po Lee (TPE) 72-72-74
222 Arie Irawan Ahmad Fauzi 72-69-81
223 Md Sajib Ali (BAN) 75-79-69; Abel Tam 80-71-72
225 Jerome Ng (SIN) 76-78-71; Md Afif Md Razif 72-79-74
226 Chan Tuck Soon 71-80-75; Shinichi Mizuno (HKG) 72-75-79
227 Ryan Peake (AUS) 72-72-83
228 Jonat Austria (PHI) 75-77-76
229 Jean Baptiste Chaumont 73-79-77; Md Dulal Hossain (BAN) 72-79-78
230 Low Khai Jei 81-79-70; Han-Ting Chiu (TPE) 81-74-75; Alvin Hiew 78-75-77
