Senai [JOHOR]: Khor Kheng Hwai cruised to his second Professional Golf of Malaysia (PGM) title in over a month at the Palm Resort Championship on Saturday.
The 32-year-old was simply in a class of his own as he went wire-to-wire with four consecutive rounds in the 60s – including a flawless closing effort of eight-under 64 at the Palm Resort Golf & Country Club.
He totalled 23-under-par 265 to finish ten strokes clear of Irfan Yusoff, who secured his third top-ten finish of the season with an impressive closing effort of 67.
Nachimuthu Ramasamy, who had a share of the opening lead, carded a 69 to settle for third on 277 with Danny Chia a further two shots behind at the RM185,000 tournament.
Top guns Nicholas Fung and Ben Leong returned with rounds of 68 and 70 respectively to finish joint fifth alongside upstart Shahriffuddin Ariffin (71).
Former national Daeng Abdul Rahman Abdul Aziz, who was making his professional bow in his home state of Johor, tied for 13th with a four-under overall.
Leading final round scores (Par-72) >
265 – Khor Kheng Hwai 66-67-68-64
275 – Irfan Yusoff 70-69-69-67
277 – Nachimuthu Ramasamy 66-72-70-69
279 – Danny Chia 72-69-69-69
280 – Nicholas Fung 71-68-73-68, Ben Leong 71-68-71-70, Shahriffuddin Ariffin 69-74-66-71
281 – Anis Helmi Hassan 71-69-72-69, Mohd Nazri 68-72-70-71
282 – Shaifubari Muda 74-70-70-68, Zu’rie Harun 72-68-69-73
283 – Sukree Othman 75-71-70-67
284 – Kenneth De Silva 75-73-69-67, Kemarol Baharin 72-71-72-69, Daeng Abdul Rahman Abd Aziz 74-71-68-71
Khor, who began the final round with a seven-shot lead, was never in trouble and a run of six birdies straddling the turn reflected a growing self-confidence after his win at the I&P Group Matchplay Championship last month.
“It was a solid week’s work – you can’t ask for more than four rounds in the sixties and going bogey-less over the final 36 holes was really the icing on the cake.
“People have kept telling me that winning is a habit and to get a second victory so quickly is reflective of how confident my game is at the moment,” said Khor.
“I didn’t want to sit back today because you can’t never be too sure of winning, regardless of the cushion. I wanted to set the tone and the approach worked,” added the now three-time PGM Tour winner.
Irfan, on the other hand, was delighted to continue a mini-revival of form on the domestic circuit as he claimed his best finish since winning the Impian Championship in 2015.
“I felt the Allamanda tract this week favoured my game. I naturally play with a fade and much of the holes demanded that you play left-to-right shots. I wanted to bounce back with a strong result after missing the cut at the Panasonic Malaysia Championship two weeks ago and I’m more than happy with the outcome.
“I spent the last fortnight at the range, getting myself familiarised with my new arsenal of Wilson Staff hybrids, irons and wedges and it paid off,” said the 23-year-old, who finished tied fourth at the season-opening Sime Darby Impian Championship before marching into the quarter finals of the I&P Group Matchplay Championship.
