Taipei: Local hero Lu Chien-soon emerged as the oldest winner on the Asian Development Tour (ADT) at the age of 52 without hitting a single shot as the final round of the Yeangder ADT was called off due to inclement weather and unplayable conditions on Friday.

Jay Bayron of the Philippines was also crowned as the ADT Order of Merit winner in the season-ending ADT event followed by Hsu Mong-nan of Chinese Taipei and Peter Richardson of England, who were rewarded with Asian Tour cards for 2013 after finishing inside the top-three of the Merit list.

Lin Wen-tang of Chinese Taipei was aiming to overcome Lu’s overnight five-shot lead but torrential rain swept the US$120,000 ADT event held at the National Garden Country Club, which subsequently led to the suspension of play.

“The extremely wet conditions made it a challenge for play to continue. As such, we have taken the decision with the sponsor to reduce the tournament to 54 holes, with the final results taken from the third round,” said Adnan Othman, the ADT’s Tournament Director of the Yeangder ADT.

Lu, who won multiple titles in Asia in the 1980s, was delighted to win the Yeangder ADT with a total of 19-under-par 197 highlighted by a second round 63 in the event which was supported by his sponsors, the Yeangder Group.

“The Yeangder boss (Emmet Hsu, Yeangder Group Chairman) asked me to play this week and challenge the younger boys, which I did,” smiled Lu. “Distance wise, I might be a bit shorter compared to them but my chipping and putting is definitely on par or better than them.”

Lu, a Champions Tour regular in the United States, was delighted to win back-to-back titles after winning a senior’s event on home soil last week.

“I just came back from the Champions Tour and played two seniors event here. I had the two events to warm up and everything worked well for me. It is nice to be winning against these younger guys,” added Lu, who won US$21,000.

Lin, a five-time Asian Tour winner, settled for second while Chan Yih-shin and Brian Locke of the United States signed off in tied third position, eight shots from the winner.

The story of the day belonged to the trio of Bayron, Hsu and Richardson who qualified for the 2013 Asian Tour season after a season long battle on the ADT, which will be afforded with Official World Golf Ranking status in 2013.

“I felt a lot of pressure coming into this week because a lot of guys had a chance to chase me on the Order of merit. I’m glad I hanged on to my position and I’m feeling very confident to play on the Asian Tour next year,” said Bayron, who topped the Merit list with US$34,309, thanks largely to two victories.

Hsu, who has three runner-up finishes on the ADT this season, finished tied 18th at the Yeangder ADT to hang on to second position on the Order of Merit with earnings of US$28,309, slightly over US$1,000 ahead of Richardson.

“I played on the Asian Tour for 10 over years but in a country exemption category. Now I know that I have a chance to play in most of the events. I’m very happy and I feel that I have the skill and experience to play and win on the Asian Tour,” said Hsu.

Richardson is relishing the opportunity of playing on the region’s established Tour after a successful season on the ADT where he won the PGM ADT Masters at A'Famosa in Malaysia.

“I knew I had to play well because some of the guys behind me played really well. I have the confidence and belief that I can play well and be among those guys on the Asian Tour. I’ll have to prove it next year,” said Richardson.

By Indian Sports News Network