Rawang: Nicholas Fung returned to the summit of the Professional Golf of Malaysia (PGM) Order of Merit after overcaming an edgy closing three holes to win the UMW Templer Park Masters on Saturday.

The highly-rated Sabahan defeated Berry Henson of the United States by one-shot despite making bogeys on 16 and 18 for a one-over-par 73 at the Templer Park Country Club.

Henson (72) made four straight bogeys from the 14th hole to settle for second while another domestic challenger Shaaban Hussin recorded a 73 for third place at the RM200,000 (approximately US$65,000) event.

Vietnamese rising star Michael Tran (73) was a further shot back in fourth. Talented Filipino Miguel Tabuena shared fifth place with locals Sukree Othman and Zurie Harun after posting 69, 70 and 74 respectively.

The bespectacled Fung, who totalled 10-under-par 278, held his nerve on the last hole to notch his first ADT title after coming close on several occasions. His victory also propelled him to the top of the ADT Order of Merit where he leads on US$23,471.

“This feels great because I’ve been trying to win on the ADT for so long. I was feeling nervous on the last hole and I’m fortunate that I made bogey and not worst. Berry and I had a good fight but when he had the stretch of bogeys, it gave me more confidence,” said the 23-year-old Fung.

He almost let a two-shot cushion slip when an errant drive on the 18th landed in the fairway bunker and he recovered well short off the green. At that stage I thought we might be heading for a playoff, but I managed to hold on for a bogey and that proved enough to win it.”

Fung became only the second Malaysian after Danny Chia to triumph on the ADT this season and he is now setting his sights on defending his position as the top dog on the burgeoning domestic circuit.

“At the start of the year, my targets was quite simple: qualifying for the Asian Tour [which he did] and maintaining my status as the local number one. I have challenged for titles a few times this season but have always came off short. With this win in the bag, I can now say that I am back in business,” he added.

Henson, a winner on the Asian Tour and ADT, rued a lapse in concentration on the closing stretch but was gracious in defeat. “I’m going to forget about everything today. I don’t want to remember about anything on the last few holes. I was mentally exhausted and couldn’t keep it together,” said the American.

“Fung played brilliantly. He is tough to play against. He doesn’t hit it far but he hits it straight and puts himself in position to score. This win might springboard him to do better on the Asian Tour so I wish him the best of luck,” added Henson.

Leading final round scores
278 – Nicholas Fung 67-70-68-73
279 – Berry Henson (USA) 66-70-71-72
281 – Shaaban Hussin 67-74-67-73
282 – Michael Tran (VIE) 68-71-70-73
286 – Miguel Tabuena (PHI) 71-71-75-69, Sukree Othman 72-71-73-70, Zurie Harun 75-70-67-74
287 – Michael Moore (AUS) 68-74-75-70, Adam Blyth (AUS) 73-70-74-70, Kodai Ichihara (JPN) 72-69-72-74