Kuala Lumpur: Brian Locke of the United States dominated the PGM-MIDF-KLGCC Masters with a sensational final round of five-under-par 66 to win by six shots on Sunday.
Locke outplayed the field from start-to-finish for his biggest and first professional win outside of the United States at the weather-shortened RM180,000 (approximately US$60,000) Asian Development Tour (ADT) event.
Hsu Mong-nan of Chinese Taipei capped his second successive runner-up finish on the ADT following a 69 while Scotland’s James Byrne and Chang Tse-peng of Chinese Taipei were a further shot back in tied third place at the Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club East course.
Despite playing in only his second ADT event this season, Locke put on a virtuoso performance where he turned in 34 and romped home with two pairs of birdies for a winning total of 12-under-par 201.
“It is exciting to win. This is probably my biggest professional win in my career. I won five little events back home. This is the most exciting moment of my golf career, minus the time when I qualified for the US Open last year,” said the 25-year-old Locke.
“I’m still new in Asia but I hit the ball good and my game was in a good place. This is a really nice golf course and the conditions were very good, which made it easier to score,” he added.
Locke was unfamiliar with the constant weather delays which forced the tournament to be reduced to 54 holes but he kept a cool head through the week and was rewarded with a winner’s pay cheque of US$10,500.
“We don’t get much rain back home so this is new for me. We had to wait around two or three hours here and there. I tried to stay focus and hydrated. It took some patience to come in early and finish the round,” said Locke, who turned professional in 2009.
He missed out on earning an Asian Tour card at the Qualifying School earlier this year but hopes this victory will provide the motivation to a successful attempt at the 2013 Qualifying School.
“I decided not to go to the PGA Tour Q-School because I’m young and I want to travel the world a bit. I think the Asian Tour provides an overall travelling experience. I’ve been in the states my whole life and I decided I wanted to play the three final three ADT events. I hope I have full status on the Asian Tour next year,” said Locke.
By Indian Sports News Network
