Johor Bahru [JOHOR]: Danial Durisic overcame a final round collapse to claim his first senior amateur title in extra time at the Johor Amateur Open on April 14.
The 19-year-old fell victim to nerves as he blew a seven-shot lead coming into the deciding round, closing with a error-filled 77 at the Horizon Hills Golf & Country Club.
That allowed Singapore’s Abdul Hadi Uda Thith, who was chasing a third consecutive victory at the Southern meet, to sneak alongside him on even-par 216 with a two-under 70.
Having returned to the 18th to contest a sudden-death shootout, Danial had the luxury of two putts to lift the title after Hadi duffed his third shot past the green and into the water hazard.
Danial was admittedly relieved to win the championship, having led from the start thanks to a solid five-under opening effort.
“I’m very excited about this win but I should have made things a lot more easier for myself. I didn’t sleep much last night and the nerves got to me. I started well but the errors crept in and credit to Hadi because he kept hustling me and that really fired me up towards the end.
“He birdied the 17th and 18th to pull level with me and that meant I needed to drain that crucial par on the last to force extra time. Fortunately, I got another chance at it and I’m mightly pleased with the way I composed myself and took care of business in the play-off,” noted Danial.
Reigning Malaysian Ladies Amateur Open (MLAO) champion Pauline Del Rosario emerged as the ladies champion with a six-under 210 overall.
Leading final results (Par-72)
Men
216 – Danial Durisic 67-72-77, Abdul Hadi Uda Thith (SIN) 72-74-70
Danial wins with a par on the first extra hole
223 – Sazanur Iman Salenin 74-79-70
228 – Jimmy Chia Lee Joo 73-76-79
229 – Muhd Afif Mohd Razif 78-77-74
230 – Amir Nazrin Jailani 76-82-72, Muhd Afif Mohd Fathi 75-74-81
231 – Daeng Abdul Rahman Abdul Aziz 80-77-74
233 – Mohd Firdaus Sabri 78-80-75
234 – Yusof Effendy 82-77-75, Mohd Zafran Abdullah 75-81-78
Ladies
210 – Pauline Del Rosario (PHI) 70-66-74
216 – Princess Mary Superal (PHI) 71-74-71
221 – Hillferah Tan 73-78-70
222 – Nur Durriyah Damian 72-77-73
223 – Nur Eliana Ariffin 76-74-73, Natasha Andrea Oon 75-74-74, Samantha Martirez (PHI) 74-73-76
225 – Warda Amira Mohd Rawof 72-78-75
229 – Winnie Ng Yu Xuan 77-79-73
230 – Kelie Kan Kah Yan 74-80-76
