Sungai Buloh: Mohd Iylia Jamil laid months of lacklustre form and an errant swing behind him as he overcame a nervous finish to claim the Professional Golfers’ Association of Malaysia (PGAM)-KRPM Classic on Friday.

After carding matching 69s in his opening two rounds, the 21-year-old former national clinched the second edition of the RM125,000 event with a closing one-under 71 at Kelab Rahman Putra Malaysia, totalling seven-under 209  for a two-stroke victory over rookie Mohd Azman Basharuddin (68) and seasoned campaigner Shaaban Hussin (70).

Akhmal Tarmizee and Murthy took a share of fourth with a two-under 241 total, one stroke ahead of the pair of Kenneth De Silva and Mohd Amli Mohayideen. Tied for eighth on one-over 217 were the trio of Sabah’s Nicholas Fung, Mohd Nazri Mohd Zain and Airil Rizman Zahari.

Iylia, who took the professional scene by storm last year after winning on his debut at the Professional Golf of Malaysia (PGM) Kinrara Classic, was more than relieved to kickstart what has been an indifferent year for him since his career high water mark.

“I can’t describe how delighted I am with the result and it’s a sweet feeling to know that I am back to my winning ways again. It has definitely been a struggle since that victory in Kinrara, which seems so long ago but I’ve worked hard on my game regardless of the bad results and just kept going with the backing of my family, coach Ayoub Oussar and friends, ” shared Iylia, who has only survived two halfway cuts in 11 starts this year.

“I had my mother on the bag this week, so I learned to keep my cool a lot more and I wasn’t swearing or cursing as much, which probably did the trick. If you had told me on Wednesday morning that I would win this tournament, I’d probably would have just laughed. I had zero expectations – my target was to make it through the cut but I got into a rhythm early one, I kept my game simple and that mental stumble block just disappeared on its own,” he added.

Starting the final round with a three-shot advantage over his nearest competitor Shaaban, Iylia made the turn on even par after birdieing the ninth to cancel a dropped shot on the sixth. He started the back nine with a birdie before dropping his second bogey of the day on the 13th. A 10-foot gain on the 17th pulled him two shots clear before Iylia almost messed it up with a clanger on the 18th.

“I was pretty nervous towards the end and I guess when I fluffed my chip (third shot) on the closing hole, all sorts of alarm bells were ringing in my head. At that point, I was really worried because I thought I only had a one-shot advantage but I managed to compose myself and pitched it near to the pin for a simple par putt, so it wasn’t that bad,” explained Iylia, who noted that his familiarity with the greens at Rahman Putra played into his advantage.

A bogey-free final round was the perfect confidence booster for Azman, who is still struggling to make his breakthrough on the paid ranks. “I am quite happy with my performance this week. I struggled with my irons a bit but my putting was the major major difference and I can be happy to post three consistent rounds,” added the 19-year-old, who missed out on sole second after his birdie putt stopped one roll short off the pin at the 18th.

On the other hand, Shaaban had little to complain after rushing back  from a family vacation in Singapore on the eve of the tournament to participate in the event. “I struggled a bit as I didn’t manage a practice round and felt rusty throughout the three days. I didn’t hit too many greens in regulation all week and missed my fair share of birdie putts. On that basis, I’m quite happy that I still managed to finish high up the leaderboard,” he shared.

A total of 96 players participated in the tournament, which featured a two-day seniors tournament. Veteran professional M. Ramayah carded consecutive rounds of 76 to claim a three-shot victory over P. Veeramuthu in the RM30,000 event.

Leading final round scores
209 – Mohd Iylia Jamil (69-69-71)
211 – Mohd Azman Basharuddin (71-72-68), Shaaban Hussin (73-68-70)
214 – S. Murthy (71-75-68), Akhmal Tarmizee Nazari (77-66-71)
215 – Kenneth De Silva (71-71-73), Mohd Amli Mohayideen (70-72-73)
217 – Nicholas Fung (71-75-71), Mohd Nazri Mohd Zain (70-74-73), Airil Rizman Zahari (72-71-74)