Shah Alam: Danny Chia saw off a resilient Nicholas Fung with a birdie on the closing hole to win the Professional Golf of Malaysia (PGM) Northport Glenmarie Masters on Saturday.
Holding a three-shot overnight lead, Chia posted a battling one-under-par 71 to complete a sensational wire-to-wire victory and claim his second victory in three starts on the burgeoning domestic tour this year.
Reigning PGM Order of Merit champion Fung, who was defending his title at Glenmarie Golf and Country Club, charged back with a 69 courtesy of three straight birdies from hole two but had to settle for second at the RM200,000 (approximately US$65,000) Asian Development Tour co-sanctioned event.
James Bowen (70) of the United States extended his lead on the ADT Order of Merit with a third place result while Malaysian M. Sasidaran (72) and Lindsay Renolds (70) of Canada shared fourth.
After turning in 35 for a slim one-stroke advantage, Chia endured a nervous back nines as he double-bogeyed the 12th which he later erased with two birdies. He was tied with Fung after bogeying 17 but calmly held his nerve to sink a clutch six-footer on the last for a hard-fought victory.
“I would not rank it as my best ball-striking round of the tournament but I think it came down to which one of us was going to be the last man standing,” shared Chia, who totalled eight-under-par 280 and won US$11,375.
“I struggled to read the greens over the final two rounds, so it was about staying mentally strong and nursing my slim advantage over the final stretch. I was relieved with that birdie on the closing hole because Nicholas [Fung] played fantastic today and he really pushed me hard for this win,” added the 40-year-old.
Chia admitted that months of hard work at the driving range with his swing coach Steven Giuliano has given him that extra confidence to go out and start winning regularly.
“Things are taking a turn for the better in my career. I have been hitting the ball a lot much better and I’m generally delighted with that. Personally, I set much higher goals to achieve which pushed me towards making these changes to my swing regiment. I am on the right track but there’s still some way to go because I don’t want to raise my expectations too high and achieve nothing in the end.”
Fung was in position to edge Chia after a hot start but his title hopes faded when the birdies dried up. “I had a bad first round because my back just flaredup. But I slowly recovered and so did my scores. Danny [Chia] played well so I didn’t really feel that I could win. He was hitting the ball really good and close to the pin. He deserves to win,” said Fung.
Leading final round scores
280 – Danny Chia 67-68-74-71
281 – Nicholas Fung 73-69-70-69
285 – James Bowen (USA) 68-71-76-70
287 – Lindsay Renolds (CAN) 73-73-70-71, M. Sasidaran 74-71-70-72
288 – Jakraphan Premsirigorn (THA) 73-68-74-73, Mohamad Azman Basharudin 71-70-71-76
289 – Grant Jackson (ENG) 70-71-77-71, George Gandranata (INA) 71-73-74-71
290 – Mitsuhiko Hashizume (JPN) 71-74-72-73, Park Il-hwan (KOR) 71-71-73-75, Pavit Tangkamolprasert (THA) 70-72-73-75
