Solid finish for Fung at Kota Permai

Nicholas Fung © Khalid Redza/Asian Tour

Shah Alam: Nicholas Fung carded a one-under-par 71 to finish as the top domestic challenger at the Worldwide Holdings Selangor Masters on Saturday.

Sabahan Fung settled for tied 29th place on three-under-par 285 while Danny Chia and Lim Eng Seng, who shot 74 and 73 respectively, were a further three shots back at the Kota Permai Golf and Country Club.

Shaaban Hussin closed with a 71 alongside Airil Rizman Zahari (73) for tied 50th place followed by amateur golfers Abel Tam, who had won a Perodua Myvi with a hole-in-hole on the second day and 16-year-old Low Khai Jei on two-over 290.

Fung got off to a hot start with two birdies in five holes but slipped back with bogeys on holes nine and 12 before carding another birdie on the 18th hole at the RM1.2 million (approximately US$395,000) Asian Tour event.

“I need to play in more international events because that’s how I will challenge and improve my game. I’m very happy with how I played this week but I still need to work on my iron shots,” said Fung.

Chia made the turn in 39 but bounced back with a flawless back nine highlighted by two birdies. “I managed 20 birdies in total this week but the outcome was even-par total, so it’s obvious that my game is quite topsy turvy. In some ways, it was frustrating because while I knew I was getting there in terms on my swing, it remains very volatile. Given time, I’m confident that [the swing change] will come good. This week I was able to shape some unbelievable shots, so it does keep me optimistic,” shared the 39-year-old.

Airil lamented his poor putting ratio on the day as he hit nine greens in regulation on the inward nine only to make the turn on a birdie-less 37. “It’s been good even if I wish that I could have putted a little better across all four days. The other departments are alright so I’m hoping that the flatstick is just taking a short blip,” said Airil, who has three domestic Professional Golf of Malaysia (PGM) title to his name this year.