KUCHING [Sarawak]: Janne Kaske produced a battling seven-under-par 65 to become the first Finnish player from Finland to win on the ADT at the PGM MNRB Sarawak Championship on May 16.
Leading results (Par-72):
Malaysian unless stated
276 – Janne Kaske (FIN) 72-67-72-65
280 – Erwan Vielledent (FRA) 69-68-71-72
281 – Masaru Takahashi (JPN) 70-72-69-70, Airil Rizman Zahari 67-69-74-71, Casey O’Toole (USA) 70-68-72-71
282 – Ratchapol Jantavara (THA) 71-70-71-70, Nirun Sae-ueng (THA) 70-71-70-71
283 – Nils Floren (SWE) 70-68-74-71, Paul Donahoo (AUS) 67-74-71-71, Tirawat Kaewsiribandit (THA) 72-69-71-71, Jake Stirling (AUS) 70-72-70-71, Blake Snyder (USA) 73-69-70-71, Hsieh Chi-hsien (TPE) 73-68-70-72, R. Nachimuthu 69-68-72-74
The 29-year-old Kaske missed a two-foot par putt on the third hole for his only bogey of the day before fighting back with eight birdies to triumph by four shots with a winning total of 12-under-par 276 at the Kelab Golf Sarawak.
Third round leader Erwan Vieilledent of France enjoyed his best result on the ADT when he returned with a 72 for second place.
Airil Rizman fired a 71 to share tied third place on 281 alongside Japan’s Masaru Takahashi (70) and Casey O’Toole (71) of the United States at the RM200,000 (US$55,400) event.
“It was magical. I started off badly and I thought my tournament was over because of my bad mistake but then the putts started to drop and I told myself, ‘don’t put the brakes on now’. I used all my chances to make birdies and got lucky,” said Kaske.
Kaske, who is the first non-Asian winner on the ADT so far this year, fired the low round of the week to overcome a three-shot deficit to hand him his first title this year.
“At one point, I started feeling that if I don’t win after playing this well, I don’t know when the victory would come. Now that I won, it means so much to me,” added the Finn, who played collegiate golf at the Augusta State University before turning professional six years ago.
He hopes to continue his momentum on the ADT and finish inside the top-five on the Order of Merit at the end of the season where he will earn an Asian Tour card for 2016.
“I’ve been playing well the whole season and this win will get me closer to the top five. That’s been the goal my whole year. This goes a long way in achieving my goal. It means a lot because I’m dedicated and I work hard.
