Bertam: Shaaban Hussin joined a select group of Malaysians to triumph on the ASEAN PGA Tour when he coasted to a three-shot victory at the Professional Golf of Malaysia (PGM) ASEAN Penang Masters on Saturday.
Shaaban, who turns 33 tomorrow, fired a career-best seven-under 65 at the Penang Golf Resort to beat compatriot R. Nachimuthu (69) and Filipino Mars Pucay with a winning total of 18-under 270.
Overnight leader Michael Tran of Vietnam could only muster an even-par 72 to finish sole fourth on 14-under 274, two shots ahead of rookie professional Arie Fauzi (68).
Thailand’s Atthakorn Rodrangka (67) and Nakarintra Ratanakul (71) were tied for sixth on 10-under-par in the RM180,000 (US$60,000) event co-sanctioned by the ASEAN PGA Tour.
A flawless display which featured seven birdies meant that Shaaban, who started the final round two strokes off the lead, not only made amends for his play-off defeat to S. Murthy last year but also joined the likes of Danny Chia, Ben Leong and Nicholas Fung as winners on the regional circuit.
“I came pretty close here last year, so I’m happy to have ensured that I will celebrate my birthday tomorrow in style. Everything just fell in place today and I pulled off five birdies on the back nine, which gave me the momentum to cruise to the title,” said Shabaan, whose last triumph in the domestic circuit came at the 2011 Terengganu Classic.
“I drove the ball well today and my irons were also in good shape, which gave me the confidence to chase for the victory. I knew that a low score would do the trick and my putting proved decisive as I buried most of the chances I got,” he added.
Despite settling for his third runner-up finish of the season, Nachimuthu was pleased with his consistent performance.
“I am happy with how I played this week. I could not do better than three-under in the final round, which on another day might have been good enough to win. All the same, I am confident with the way I’m striking the ball and I’m looking forward to the [Worldwide Holdings] Selangor Masters next week.”
Leading final round scores (Malaysian unless stated otherwise)
270 Shaaban Hussin 67-69-69-65
273 Mars Pucay (PHI) 71-69-68-65, R Nachimuthu 68-66-70-69
274 Michael Tran (VIE) 68-68-66-72
276 Arie Fauzi 67-69-72-68
278 Atthakorn Rodrangka (THA) 74-67-70-67, Nakarintra Ratanakul (THA) 66-72-69-71
280 S. Murthy 71-67-73-69, Rory Hie (INA) 70-70-70-70, Mohd Rizal Amin 68-73-69-70
