The week before the Asian Tour returns to China for the Midea China Classic at the Royal Orchid Club in Guangzhou, China's top golfer Liang Wen Chong provided an electric victory in the Hero Honda Indian Open.
The Chinese star birdied the last two holes for a dramatic wire-to-wire win, finally closing-out Australian Darren Beck by a single shot on the very last green. The Australian rookie had started the day six strokes back in joint ninth place, but a faultless final-round 65, including a birdie at the last, gave him the clubhouse lead and a nail-biting wait for a possible maiden victory.
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Liang Wenchong (R)?at The Open - things looked fairer all round at the Hero Honda India Open |
Liang was three under after nine holes of his final round, and things seemed fairly plain sailing, but he slipped up on the back nine by dropping a shot on the 14th hole and followed that with a double bogey on the 15th. He was still one stroke behind on the 17th tee, but a birdie 2 on the par-3, followed by a superb chip on the par-5 18th which left him a three foot birdie putt for a 4, gave him the two shots he needed for the narrowest of one-stroke victories.
With a winning total of 16-under-par 272, the Zhongshan-born winner of the 2007 Asian Tour Order of Merit walked away with the top prize of US$158,500, and he rises to fifth place on this year's Asian Tour.
"I'm delighted with this win. It's my first triumph from start to finish and I'm really happy," said the jubilant Liang. "This is an important one for me. It proves that I'm heading in the right direction."
"I was over-thinking about my shot on the 14th hole when I was in the bunker, which resulted in a bogey, and I chose the wrong club on the 15th hole. I was 154 yards to the pin and I used an eight iron. But I kept it together with two birdies for a great finish," said Liang, whose win yesterday was his first since the Singapore Masters last year.
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Adam Blyth - a par 72 for third place |
Liang's tournament started in spectacular fashion with a 12-under par 60 in the first round on Thursday, missing that rarest of golfing birds, a 59, by only one stroke. He was on fire for the first nine holes, failing to birdie only one hole, the 4th, in an eight-under par 28. He continued to shoot well on the back nine with four more birdies, and although there was not a single bogey on his card, he will certainly look back at the par-5 18th, where he 'only' made par, as a missed opportunity to hit that magic 59.
Australia's Beck clawed his way up from a six stroke deficit in the final round by holing seven birdies today to finish on his own in second place.
"I'm delighted with my performance this week. I'm surprised to have done well but it's because I've been focusing on my mental game in the past few weeks. I felt confident and not nervous which has been my main problem before.
"I was practicing my putting while waiting for Liang to complete his round but when I heard the roar of the crowd, I knew he had holed the winning putt on the 18th," said the New South Wales golfer, who triumphed on home soil last week.
Another young Australian, Adam Blyth, who had his first taste of a Major this summer when he qualified for The Open at Royal Birkdale, was Liang's playing partner for the final day. But Blyth could do no better than an even-par 72, which was nonetheless good enough for third place. Blyth's best finish on the Asian Tour to date is a tie for second at the Pine Valley Beijing Open in 2007.
Jeev Milkha Singh was the highest ranked local finisher when he carded a 69 for a 276 total to finish on his own in fourth spot.
Wu Ashun, China's other player to make the cut, enjoyed missed fortunes in his final round of 71. Two front-nine birdies brought him to 8-under overall which would have been good enough for an 8th place finish, but he dropped three shots at the 12th, 13th and 15th, before birdying the last for a final score of 6-under on 282. Nevertheless, he climbed twelve places from 28th to a tie for 16th in his last round, and will not be dissatisfied with the day's work.
And so the Asian Tour's attention returns to China next week, with the Midea China Classic at the Royal Orchid Club in Guangzhou, where local supporters will be hoping for another Chinese victory.
Leading final round scores
272 - Liang Wen-chong (CHN) 60-71-71-70
273 - Darren Beck (AUS) 70-70-68-65
275 - Adam Blyth (AUS) 70-67-66-72
276 - Jeev Milkha Singh (IND) 65-74-68-69
277 - Guido Van Der Valk (NED) 77-61-70-69
279 - Mukesh Kumar (IND) 68-73-68-70, Ashok Kumar (IND) 70-67-70-72
280 - Muhammad Munir (PAK) 69-69-72-70, Mars Pucay (PHI) 71-67-70-72
281 - Marcus Both (AUS) 74-69-70-68, Sanjay Kumar (IND) 66-72-73-70, Rhys Davies (WAL) 70-72-69-70, Artemio Murakami (PHI) 74-67-68-72, Mark Brown (NZL) 71-67-69-74, Steven Tiley (ENG) 72-66-69-74
282 - Atthaphon Prathummanee (THA) 67-73-71-71, Jaiveer Virk (IND) 71-69-71-71, Wu Ashun (CHN) 72-71-68-71, Lu Wen-teh (TPE) 66-71-71-74, Unho Park (AUS) 67-71-66-78
(China.org.cn by David Ferguson October 13, 2008)