Kuala Lumpur: Mohd Rizal Amin drained a 20-foot birdie putt to claim an emotional play-off victory over overnight leader Peter Richardson of England at the Professional Golf of Malaysia (PGM) MIDF KLGCC Championship on Saturday.
Entering the final round five strokes back, the 31-year-old Malaysian carded a three-under-par 68, which included a pressure-packed 15-foot birdie at the last, to force extra time with Richardson, who struggled home with a 73 in the season-ending RM250,000 (approximately US$80,000) Asian Development Tour co-sanctioned tournament.
Both players tied on eight-under-par 276 at the Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club’s East Course before Rizal produced his winning moment.
“I don’t even know how to describe this,” said Rizal, who broke into tears as he celebrated his maiden win on the fast-growing domestic circuit
“It’s been a long time. It’s been a struggle this year and some how, I’ve managed to get a win. It’s such a great feeling to get the monkey off my back. It’s really great.”
The final round was delayed by two hours in the morning due to inclement weather and it affected Richardson, who led since the first day, the most. The Englishman was four-over through 10 holes before rallying with birdies on 11th and 12th to stay ahead of Rizal.
However, the burly La Verne graduate produced a superb finish with birdies on 13th, 15th and 18th to push himself in the play-off. He earned RM43,500for the win.
“I just told myself to play my game and be patient. I didn’t know I would make a late charge to tie him up. That’s incredible. It is unbelievable. I hit the putt so hard in the play-off that I thought it was going to go by the hole. It felt good to get that in,” said Rizal, who turned professional in 2011.
“It’s been an up-and-down career. One minute I am playing good, the next minute I am struggling. My coach and parents have been telling me to stay patient and that it would work out fine. I just stayed patient this week and thought positively all day.
“This is such a stepping stone for me. It’s such a big boost. I’m going to the Asian Tour Qualifying School next month and hope to get my card to play on the Asian Tour.”
Richardson was disappointed he let slip the opportunity to secure a second ADT victory. He said the delayed start threw him off balance and poor driving cost him the title.
“I drove the ball terribly from the sixth through 11th and dropped several shots. I made some birdies and some unbelievable putts for pars coming in to just stay in it. Rizal played well and I thought he deserved to win. We’ve played a lot recently and I knew how well he was playing,” said Richardson.
“The two hour delay this morning … if we didn’t start the round, it would have been cancelled and it was all up in the air. But I just didn’t drive the ball well and just struggled. And Rizal took advantage.”
American Brett Munson closed with a 74 to finish tied fourth and successfully retained his fifth position on the final ADT Order of Merit ranking to secure his Asian Tour card for 2015 along with new ADT number one Pavit Tangkamolprasert of Thailand, Chinese Taipei’s Chan Shih-chang, Niall Turner of Ireland and Thailand’s Sattaya Supupramai.
Leading final round scores:
276 – Rizal Amin 68-70-70-68, Peter Richardson (ENG) 66-71-66-73
280 – Kemarol Baharin 72-70-72-66
282 – Shaaban Hussin 73-72-70-67, Nakarintra Ratanakul (THA) 67-73-71-71, Mitsuhiko Hashizume (JPN) 67-74-69-72, R. Nachimuthu 73-66-70-73, Brett Munro (USA) 71-69-68-74
284 – Casey O’Toole (USA) 71-75-70-68, Kevin Marques (AUS) 72-69-74-69, Airil Rizman Zahari 68-73-72-71
