Manila [THE PHILIPPINES]: Gavin Kyle Green sealed his second Asian Development Tour title of the season with a brilliant final round of seven-under 65 at the ICTSI Manila Southwoods Championship on Saturday.
The rising Malaysian star fired seven birdies against a lone bogey to overturn a three-shot deficit and triumph by two strokes with a 16-under-par 268 overall at the Manila Southwoods Golf and Country Club’s Legends course.
Singapore’s Koh Deng Shan closed with three straight birdies en-route to a 66 to share second place with Donlaphatchai Niyomchon of Thailand, who finished with a third consecutive 67, at the US$60,000 event.
Overnight leader John Michael O’Toole of the United States battled to a 71 to settle for fourth place with Thai duo Poom Saksansin (68) and Pijit Petchkasem (70) on 271.
Leading final results (Par-71):
268 – GAVIN KYLE GREEN 66-65-72-65
270 – Koh Dengshan (SIN) 70-64-70-66, Donlaphatchai Niyomchon (THA) 69-67-67-67
271 – Poom Saksansin (THA) 68-69-66-68, Pijit Petchkasem (THA) 66-66-69-70, John Michael O’Toole (USA) 71-61-68-71
273 – Yuto Katsugawa (A) (JPN) 70-70-67-66, Dino A. Giacomazzi (USA) 74-66-69-64, Suradit Yongcharoenchai (THA) 67-68-66-72
274 – Rattanon Wannasrichan (THA) 70-70-67-67, Taichi Nabetani (JPN) 65-69-71-69, Pannakorn Uthaipas (THA) 66-69-69-70
Green rolled in a 30-footer and a 20-footer for birdies on second and sixth respectively before adding more birdies on eighth and ninth to turn in 32. He went on to sink three straight birdies from the 11th and was tied at the top with playing partner Donlaphatchai, who was equally impressive with seven birdies after 13 holes.
Despite dropping a shot on 14th, Green kept his cool to close out with four straight pars. The Thai, however, dashed his title hopes after stumbling with a bogey on the 15th and a double-bogey on the following hole.
“It was a really interesting round. I played solid. Donlaphatchai was on my back from the start and we were both seven-under through 13th but I stayed patient out there. I just keep hitting good shots and I kept the ball in play.
“I think I handled myself really well. I learnt from my round yesterday. I got from four-under to one-over yesterday but today I went from four-under to six-under. I think I trusted myself more today. I stayed positive and was able to hit it close,” said the 22-year-old, who had held the second round lead before slipping down the leaderboard with a third round one-over 72.
Green, the second Malaysian after Arie Irawan to win an ADT event outside of his home country, took home the winner’s prize share of US$10,500 and receive six Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) points courtesy of his win.
With two victories and two top-10s in the bag so far, Green needs just one more victory to gain playing rights on the Asian Tour this season.
“This win means a lot to me. I have been working a lot with my coach Chris O’Connell and I am glad to see improvements. This win also came at the right time for me as I am heading to Japan for the Panasonic Open Golf Championship next week. Hopefully I can continue to do well there,” added Green, who rose to second place on the ADT Merit rankings with a haul of US$25,161 so far.
