Kuala Lumpur: Mardan Mamat of Singapore held off a late charge from popular local Rashid Ismail to win the PGM-CCM- Impian Masters by one shot on Sunday.
Mamat continued his rich vein of form to shoot a final round three-under-par 69 to defeat a fast charging Rashid, who fired a blistering course record 62 at the Impian Golf and Country Club on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur in the season-opening event of the Asian Development Tour.
Danny Chia, a winner on the Asian Tour, closed with a solid 66 to finish in third place on 273 while R. Nachimuthu, winner of the PGM Order of Merit last year, ended his campaign two shots back at the RM180,000 (approximately US$60,000).
Overnight leader Mardan, winner of the ICTSI Philippine Open on the Asian Tour last month, was on level terms with Rashid after 16 holes and needed a birdie on 17 to seal his first Asian Development Tour title.
“Thank God, I didn’t know (Rashid’s score)! I was pretty much focussed on what I needed to do. I didn’t know until I entered score recording and found out I defeated Rashid by one,” said the Singaporean veteran, who totalled 18-under-par 270 and won US$10,465.
Mardan predicted a bright future for the ADT, which is running in its third season and affords the top-three players on the Order of Merit at the end of the season with Asian Tour cards for the following year.
“It will benefit a lot of the younger players. We need this development tour to develop the young players. This is like a platform for them to build up their game to the next level. This is good for the young players,” said Mardan, who will play in the HANDA FALDO CAMBODIAN CLASSIC on the Asian Tour next week.
Playing five flights in front of the leading flight, Rashid took advantage of his home course knowledge to shoot a flawless round highlighted by 10 birdies to overcome an eight-shot deficit.
The highlight of his day came when he narrowly missed a hole-in-one by one feet at the 16th hole.
“I’m not disappointed with how I played even though I didn’t win. I rediscovered my putting form so I hope I can continue until the Malaysian Open. This is a good start to the year for me. This ADT tournament helps the local players gain more experience. This is a good stepping stone for us,” said Rashid, who represented Malaysia in the 2000 World Cup of golf with Chia.
Leading final round scores
270 - Mardan MAMAT (SIN) 66-67-68-69
271 - Rashid ISMAIL (MAS) 69-70-70-62
273 - Danny CHIA (MAS) 68-70-69-66
275 - R. Nachimuthu (MAS) 64-69-71-71
276 - Jay BAYRON (PHI) 68-70-70-68, Senroku ISA (JPN) 68-70-68-70, Dodge KEMMER (USA) 67-68-69-72
277 - Anthony CHOAT (AUS) 68-70-69-70, Glenn JOYNER (AUS) 66-72-69-70
278 - Jani PERTTILA (FIN) 70-70-72-66, Elmer SALVADOR (PHI) 71-71-69-67, LIM Eng-Seng (MAS) 65-75-69-69, Hirotaro NAITO (JPN) 72-66-67-73
279 - Antonio LASCUNA (PHI) 71-71-70-67, Matthew ROSENFELD (USA) 72-69-69-69, S.Siva Chandhran (MAS) 70-67-72-70, Kenichi SAWADA (JPN) 69-69-71-70, Neil REILLY (ENG) 67-67-72-73
