KUALA LUMPUR: Ben Leong survived final round jitters to win the SapuraKencana National Qualifier by two shots on Wednesday to secure a dream spot in the US$7 million CIMB Classic in October.
The 29-year-old Sabahan, who held an overnight five-shot lead, closed with a two-over-par 74 at the Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club, totalling three-under-par 213 to edge out a hard-charging Kenneth De Silva, who signed off with a fine 68.

Nicholas Fung fired a 69 to finish third, a further stroke back, while last year’s champion Danny Chia settled for fourth place after a 73.

“It means a lot. It’s like a dream come true and dreams do come true. I’ve been unlucky the last couple of weeks (finishing second twice on the local circuit) and I’m glad I crossed the line this time. It’s a great win and I’m looking forward to playing in the CIMB Classic,” said Ben.

The one-time Asian Tour winner didn’t have it easy despite his big advantage, with Danny first making a charge early on and then Kenneth chipping away at the lead with some wonderful golf.

He admitted that his hands shook with nerves creeping in coming down the stretch when Kenneth pulled to within two of the lead.

“It’s never easy having a big lead. You start losing focus despite leading by five. A lead is never big enough. I’m happy I got it through. I just stayed patient and it worked out,” he said.

“I was focused on Danny as he was the closest to me at the start of the day and then he birdied a couple and the lead was down to three. He then had a rough start on our back nine which gave me back my five-shot lead and I didn’t really know what Kenneth was doing.

“There were some nerves for me. My hands were shaking, definitely, and my playing partners were actually laughing at me coming down the stretch!” he noted, adding that it felt great to have earned a start in the prestigious tournament.

Ben’s victory, which earned him RM22,000, was a timely boost as he had endured a torrid last few years following a back injury which left him out cold for a long spell.

“I had doubts for sure,” he said, when asked if he thought his career was over in 2012 due to a disc prolapse.

“I would go to bed wishing that when I woke up the next morning, the pain would be gone. It was frustrating and it tested me to my limit. I stayed determined, stayed to my workout regime and stayed patient which was probably the secret. It worked out alright.

“For the past few years now, I will spend four hours on the golf course and one hour off it to work on my physical aspect. Before that, it was just seven or eight hours which was stressing my body and mind out. Ever since I’ve come back from my injury, I’ve told myself to stay disciplined and stay with my five-hour plan,” added Ben.

Kenneth was delighted to post his career best score at the challenging West Course tract but lamented a bogey and double bogey on 12th and 13th for denting his hopes of pushing Ben to the limit.

“I played really good golf. I told myself to try my best as anything can happen on this course. I got close to the lead but the 12th and 13th holes took away my chances. I missed birdie chances on 17 and 18 which was disappointing as I really wanted one more birdie to put some pressure on Ben,” said Kenneth.

Leading final results (Par-72) >
213 – Ben Leong 71-68-74
215 – Kenneth De Silva 75-72-68
216 – Nicholas Fung 73-74-69
217 – Danny Chia 71-73-73
219 – R. Nachimuthu 71-77-71
220 – Khor Kheng Hwai 77-70-73, S. Sivachandhran 74-73-73, Shaifubari Muda 76-71-73
221 – Chong Chee Ming 76-71-74
222 – Akhmal Tarmizee Nazari 77-71-74, Wilson Choo 72-75-75
223 – Gavin Kyle Green 73-80-70, Mohd Azman Basharuddin 77-73-73, Mohd Rizal Amin 74-77-72, Shaaban Hussin 74-77-72