Puchong [SELANGOR]: Nicholas Fung won the Professional Golf of Malaysia (PGM) Tour’s season-opening event after easing to a comfortable six-stroke victory at the I&P Group Championship on Saturday.

The 26-year-old from Sabah led from start to finish in the RM180,000 tournament, closing with a with a 67 for a 13-under-par 267 total at the Kinrara Golf Club.

Sukree Othman, who was playing in the third last flight,  posted a 67 of his own to leap into sole second ahead of Wilson Choo.

Choo, who had trailed by three overnight, slipped with a disappointing two-over 72 for a five-under 275 aggregate with Kenneth De Silva (71) a further stroke back in fourth.

After trading two birdies with as many bogeys on the first nine, Fung fired three birdies on a trot at the turn to coast to his 13th title on the flourishing domestic circuit.

“I played with a lot of confidence and carried a lot of momentum from my performance at Glenmarie last week,” he said in reference to his participation in the EurAsia Cup last weekend.

“There were a few times when I fumbled a little but I got it right almost immediately and never felt under any pressure. Kinrara [Golf Club] has been a good hunting ground for me in recent years and I’m really satisfied to get an early title in the bag,” added the two-time Order of Merit champion.

Sukree said he too was pleased with how he finished the tournament. “I started well when I opened with a 65 but in the second round and yesterday I had a few problems. Today, I enjoyed another good round but just not good enough to win.”

Leading final results (Par-70) >
267 – Nicholas Fung 65-69-66-67
273 – Sukree Othman 65-70-71-67
275 – Wilson Choo 71-66-66-72
276 – Kenneth De Silva 66-73-66-71
277 – Kemarol Baharin 69-68-69-71
278 – Shaaban Hussin 72-68-72-65, Muhd Alwarith Damian 66-69-73-70, Lim Eng Seng 68-67-70-73
279 – Lam Yu Shuen 70-69-71-69
280 – Hans Jamil 73-70-68-69