Kajang (SELANGOR): Arie Irawan finished his 2014 season on a high after claiming his professional breakthrough at the Maybank Players’ Championship on Saturday.
Just 18 months into his budding professional career, Arie secured a deserved wire-to-wire triumph with a two-stroke victory over Airil Rizman Zahari, whose runner-up finish saw him comfortably seal the Order of Merit title at the Impian Golf & Country Club.
The 24-year-old former national carded a closing three-under 69 to finish with a 14-under 274 overall as Airil pulled clear in the race to top the money list with a superb seven-under 65.
A second consecutive 68 saw Sabahan Ben Leong finish third on 11-under 277 while the trio of Azman Basharuddin (67), R. Nachimuthu (70) and Sukree Othman (70) were two strokes further back in a share for fourth.
After a couple of close shaves this season, Arie was mighty relieved to claim a career payday of RM60,000 in the RM350,000 season-ending Tour championship.
“It feels surreal to stand here and speak about having won this tournament! This is the biggest event on the PGM Tour and I am absolutely happy to have managed to pull it off,” shared Arie, who returned with a flawless card featuring three birdies.
“I started today with a four-stroke lead and knew that if I played positive and also aggressively, I could do it. I came close a few times before today but did not manage to go all the way and I think in some ways that helped teach me to focus on the right things. I watched how my coaching stablemate Mohd Rizal Amin ended his barren run last week [at the PGM MIDF KLGCC Championship] and I felt it was about time that I won one as well.”
The win was nonetheless a consolation for the young professional who missed out on a Asian Tour card despite a sustained challenge on the Asian Development Tour (ADT) this season.
“My goal this year was to finish in the top-five on the Asian Development Tour (ADT), but I fell just short of that, missing out by one spot. Still I’m happy with how this season went and I can best describe it as being very good.”
Leading final round results >
274 – Arie Irawan 64-70-71-69
276 – Airil Rizman Zahari 69-70-72-65
277 – Ben Leong 72-69-68-68
279 – Mohd Azman Basharuddin 72-68-72-67, R. Nachimuthu 67-72-70-70, Sukree Othman 70-71-68-70
280 – Kemarol Baharin 73-65-73-69
282 – Akhmal Tarmizee Nazari 72-72-67-71
283 – M. Sasidaran 71-73-72-67, Wilson Choo 70-71-71-71
284 – Khor Kheng Hwai 76-68-71-69
