KUALA LUMPUR: Liyana Durisic capped a string of impressive recent performances by securing the overall girls’ title at the sixth edition of the RSGC Junior Amateur Open on Thursday.

The 16-year-old from Selangor fired three birdies in a closing one-under 72 to finish two strokes clear of national junior Geraldine Wong Xiao Xuan (76-75-72) at the Royal Selangor Golf Club.

Fresh from a third place finish at the Truevision International Junior Golf Championship in Thailand last week, Liyana totalled five-over 221 to land her first significant World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) title.

Overnight leader Francesca Bernice Olivares-Ilas of the Philippines settled for third on 226 after a disappointing closing effort of 78. She also picked up the prize for the leading girls’ 15 and under participant.

In the boys’ division, Adam Arif Madzri was in a class of his own as he cruised to an impressive 13-shot victory.

Adam, the 2015 boys’ 15 and under champion, combined rounds of 73, 69 and 72 for a two-under 214 overall.

Bryan Tan Wei Han (81-75-71), who finished as the leading boys’ 15 and under player, took second place while Umar Khushairi Muhd Kamal wound up a further shot back in third, with three successive rounds of 76.

Leading final results
BOYS (Par-72)
214 – Adam Arif Madzri 73-69-72
227 – Bryan Tan Wei Han 81-75-71
228 – Umar Khushairi Muhd Kamal 76-76-76
231 – Izzat Syazmin Amirul Syazwan 73-79-74, Muhd Muhazim Bakhtiar 74-80-77
233 – Sheikh Abdul Razak Abdul Rawof 80-80-73, Jayveenrhaj Gunaseelan 82-75-76, Tan Yih Heng 75-79-79
235 – Hadi Irfan Mohd Rahaizah 78-77-80
239 – Ryan Fernandez 85-74-79

GIRLS (Par-73)
221 – Liyana Durisic 76-73-72
223 – Geraldine Wong Xiao Xuan 76-75-72
226 – Francesca Bernice Olivares-Ilas (PHI) 72-76-78
227 – Mikhaela Fortuna (PHI) 77-76-74
228 – Audrey Tan Wei Yen 74-79-75
230 – Warda Amira Abdul Rawof 77-78-75
235 – Vinisha Gunaseelan 75-79-81
236 – Sofia Chabon (PHI) 76-82-78
238 – Grace Chin Jun Li 81-80-77
239 – Nur Maisarah Sa’ad 77-81-81

Starting the final round a shot adrift of Olivares-Ilas, Liyana triumphed after a thrilling back nine duel with compatriot Wong, which included back-to-back birdies on the closing stretch.

“I am really happy to win because I was really tensed going out today. I hooked my driver into the trees on the first but managed to recover well for par, which sort of killed the nerves. Geraldine had a great start and it was a case of staying in touch with her and taking my chances as they came.

“We were level after 15 and I got to the lead for the first time when Geraldine dropped a bogey on 16th. I knew I had a good chance [of winning] when I birdied the next hole to go two clear.  It felt good to finish the tournament strongly with another gain on the last,” said Liyana.

“I’ve been working hard on my game and I have my mom to thank for that because she has been pushing me all the way. But otherwise, I’m making much better decisions on the golf course and handling the pressure, especially in the heat of the competition,” she added.

Adam, on the other hand, made up for a lack of tournament involvement with a sweet ball-striking display, which his rivals found hard to match.

“I haven’t been playing much tournaments recently due to school but I know that I’ve won here before. It was case of having nothing to lose and I just went out with a positive outlook everyday. I think that approach paid dividends because I carded some low numbers this week and bagged the win as well.

“I been working a lot recently with professional Rashid Ismail, just refining my swing technique and focusing on my short game routine and on a long course like this, I felt it gave me the edge. I was able to pace myself over the three days and really proud with that performance, ” shared the 16-year-old.