Jasin (MELAKA): Airil Rizman Zahari climbed to the summit of the Professional Golf of Malaysia (PGM) Tour after closing out his second win of the season at the Tiara Championship on Saturday.
The 36-year-old notched a consecutive four-under 68 to clinch a two-stroke victory at the Tiara Melaka Golf & Country Club and more importantly, overtake frontrunner R. Nachimuthu on the Order of Merit, thanks to a handsome RM27,200 cheque.
Khor Kheng Hwai, who started the round five strokes adrift, blitzed the course with a tournament best of seven-under 65 to claim yet another runner-up finish on seven-under 281.
Back-to-back bogeys in the closing stretch saw Shaaban Hussin return with an even-par 72 to settle for third, two strokes clear of a trio of players tied for fourth on 286, including national amateur Low Khai Jei.
Playing in the championship flight, the 18-year-old national continued his golfing education as he drained two late birdies to salvage a two-over 74 to finish alongside seasoned campaigners Kenneth De Silva (70) and S. Murthy (71) in the RM180,000 event.
But the spotlight was clearly on Airil, whose fifth career title on the burgeoning domestic circuit means he now has the chance to finish the season as the Tour’s number one with only two events remaining.
“It’s a process because we still have two more events on the schedule. Nachi[muthu] was gracious in congratulating me just now and I told him that we going to take this race to the wire. But nonetheless, I’m really happy to top the money list. It was a personal goal coming into this season but I didn’t think it was possible until I strung a 3-2-1 finish right before the Ramadhan break,” said Airil, referring to a run of good results, which culminated with him winning the Perlis Classic in July.
“It was an open tournament today and I didn’t have a clue that Kheng Hwai was chasing me down. I was four-under at the turn but the birdies dried up on the back nine. I had my share of nervous moments but I played two excellent bunker shots on the 14th and 16th to save par, which proved crucial in the end,” added the champion, who now holds a RM14,264 advantage on the money list.
A bemused Kheng Hwai was left counting the positives after his latest comeback saw him come close to ending his long-wait for a professional title on the domestic front.
“You really can’t complain after a flawless round of seven birdies but I’m just surprised with my week really. I was striking the ball so bad all week and out of nowhere, I finish two strokes short off the win. Should have made those chances earlier in the week count but I’m getting closer all the time,” he added.
Leading final results >
279 – Airil Rizman Zahari 72-71-68-68;
281 – Khor Kheng Hwai 69-72-75-65;
284 – Shaaban Hussin 74-67-71-72
286 – Kenneth De Silva 69-72-75-70, S. Murthy 71-74-70-71, Low Khai Jei (A) 72-72-68-74;
287 – Akhmal Tarmizee Nazari 69-70-78-70, Irfan Yusoff 70-71-72-74;
288 – S. Sivachandhran 72-76-71-69, Iylia Jamil 75-71-73-69, Kemarol Baharin 74-69-72-73, Ben Leong 73-69-70-76;
289 – Abel Tam 76-73-70-70, R. Nachimuthu 75-75-68-71
