Kajang [SELANGOR]: Irfan Yusoff survived the longest ever play-off on the Professional Golf of Malaysia (PGM) Tour to clinch his professional breakthrough at the RM180,000 Impian Championship on Sunday.

The 21-year-old parred the sixth extra hole to beat Lam Yu Shuen in a thriller at Impian Golf & Country Club after S. Sivachandhran dropped out of the three-way contest at the fourth time of asking.

Irfan had earlier posted a final round of five-under 67 to match Lam, who closed with even-par 72 as well as Sivachandhran (67) on 10-under 278 for the tournament.

Third round joint leader Ben Leong missed out on a spot in the playoff by a single stroke after returning with a one-over 73.

Continuing his good form which has already yielded a win on Tour this year, top amateur Low Khai Jei carded a final round three-under 69 to finish alone in fifth place on eight-under 280.

Kedahan Irfan was left speechless after receiving the trophy.”I am very happy and excited to have won here. To win on this Tour is tough as there are many good players and today, I just took the chance before me.”

Reflecting on the play-off that went the distance, he added: “I tried to keep calm and just play one shot at a time and in the end it worked out fine. My plan was to go for birdies but then, six straight pars did the tricky. I was playing against much more experienced players but I think I dealt with the pressure alright.”

Leading final results (Par-72):
278 – Irfan Yusoff 71-69-71-67, Lam Yu Shuen 68-66-72-72, S. Sivachandhran 70-71-70-67
(Irfan wins on the sixth play-off hole)
279 – Ben Leong 70-69-67-73
280 – Low Khai Jei (A) 74-67-70-69
281 – Airil Rizman Zahari 71-69-73-68, Khor Kheng Hwai 74-68-69-70,
Mohd Rizal Amin 67-70-73-71
284 – Alex Tiong 69-71-76-68, Sukree Othman 67-72-76-69, Md Rashid Ismail 69-74-72-69, Kenneth De Silva 68-75-71-70, Iylia Jamil 71-70-69-74