Kota Kinabalu [SABAH]: Unheralded South Korean Park Sang Ho and Harmie Constantino of the Philippines enjoyed their day in the sun as they cruised to wire-to-wire victories at the 100Plus Malaysian Junior Open on Saturday.
Local knowledge paid off for Park, a resident in Sabah since 2006, as he closed his campaign with a even-par 72 to claim his maiden major junior title by eight shots at Sabah Golf & Country Club.
Much hope was placed on Sabah’s very own Solomon Emilio Rosidin to shine in the national junior Open and despite a solid two-under 70 final round, the 17-year-old could only settle for second alongside crocked Thai junior Eekarat Leksuwan (74).
Johor youngster Daeng Abdul Rahman Abdul Aziz put on a polished display as he carded three identical rounds of 75 to finish sole fourth on 225 and walk home with boys’ under-14 title.
National back-up player Galven Kendall Green carded a 73 to remain a shot back in a share of fifth alongside Hong Kong’s Leon Philip D’Souza (76) and Ryan Wong Wey Ren (78) of Singapore.
In the girls’ division, Constantino put together another putting masterclass as she returned with a two-under 70 to hand her more older and fancied opponents a humbing 14-shot defeat.
The 13-year-old Manila native, who stands at only 4 foot 10 inches, was the only player to play even-par or better all week with a three-under 213 overall.
The trio of Suthavee Chanachai (74) of Thailand, Chinese Taipei’s Chang Yi Chia (74) and Philippines’ Samantha Martirez (78) finished tied second with Sarawak’s Ashley Lau Jen Wen leaping into fifth with a strong three-under 69.
While admitting that he felt really great, Park was nonetheless surprised that he had done enough in the end to seal an emphatic victory in the .
“It is still sinking in as I was still nervous going out today despite having a six-stroke cushion. I recorded a personal best of 67 during the first round and I just built on that display.
“My putting saved me this week but I guess the hours I spent practising here paid off,” said the 18-year-old SMS Seri Insan student, who was able to shrug off a double bogey on the 18th after birdies on the fourth, fifth and 16th.
“The two early birdies helped me settle in and after that I was just trying to manage my lead after that. My Thai playing partner [Eekarat] wasn’t able to trouble me as he was struggling with a shoulder injury and despite a late charge by Solomon, I just held my composure. After the 16th, I knew that I had it within my grasp,” added Park, who had his elder brother urging him on.
Constantino on the other hand never put a wrong foot forward all week and was delighted with her display. “It feels good actually because I didn’t expect to challenge for the overall title this week as they were many international participants older than me. I expected to play well and win my age bracket but to win the championship, is a real achievement,” she said.
“I didn’t feel any pressure but I went out wanting to improve on my previous rounds. I started really well with four birdies on the front nine but the triple bogey on the 14th was really wake up call. It really stunned me and my mother told me to just stay focused and that helped,” added tje two-time Veritas World Junior Championship winner.
Leading final round scores (Malaysian unless stated):
Boys’
213 – Park Sang Hon (KOR) 67-74-72
221 – Solomon Emilio Rosidin 78-73-70, Eekarat Leksuwan (THA) 73-74-74
225 – Daeng Abdul Rahman Abd Aziz 75-75-75
226 – Galven Kendall Green 73-70-73, Leon Philip D’Souza (HKG) 74-76-76, Ryan Wong Wey Ren (SIN) 73-75-78
228 – Alvin Hiew 75-79-74
229 – Bryan Teoh Wiyang 77-79-73
233 – Mohd Daniel Faidz Jazmi 77-78-78
234 – Louis Tee (SIN) 80-76-78
237 – Suzairi Iqmah Rahim 81-81-75
239 – Tommy Tan (SIN) 81-79-79, Jeryl Tan Foo Yew (SIN) 78-76-85
240 – Ankur Malik (ENG) 80-82-78
246 – Victor Ng Yu Kai 79-87-80
249 – Christopher Daniel James 87-80-82
250 – Eldrick Chong Ming loong 81-89-80
251 – Lim Beng Keat 90-80-81
253 – Darren Kong Ka Han 88-81-84
Girls’
213 – Harmie Constantino (PHI) 71-72-70
227 – Suthavee Chanachai (THA) 75-78-74, Chang Yi Chia (TPE) 72-81-74, Samantha Martirez (PHI) 74-75-78
231 – Ashley Lau Jen Wen 88-74-69
234 – Sofia Chabon (PHI) 78-77-79
235 – Mikhaela Fortuna (PHI) 81-81-73
237 – Siti Zulaikhaa Shaari 85-76-76, Tham Soot Yuet 80-77-80
238 – Sarah Tan 80-78-80, Raeysha Surendran 75-83-80
239 – Abegail Arevalo (PHI) 81-80-78, Winnie Ng Xu Yuan 80-81-78, Natasha Andrea Oon 84-76-79
244 – Vivian Lee Kai Wing (HKG) 75-84-85
246 – Geraldine Wong 82-82-82
249 – Kimberly Nelson 87-79-83
256 – Eliza Mae Kho 89-84-83
