Hong Kong, 25 October 2026: American John Catlin won the Link Hong Kong Open by five shots on Sunday, while India’s Anirban Lahiri, who started the final round in a share of the lead, slipped to a tie for 17th after a four-over 74.
Catlin shot a six-under 64 on the Composite Course at the Hong Kong Golf Club to finish on 20 under. Hong Kong’s Matthew Cheung and Finland’s Kalle Samooja, who both shot 67, shared second place on 15 under. Thailand’s Jazz Janewattananond and New Zealand’s Nick Voke tied for fourth, two shots further back.
Penalty hurts Lahiri
Lahiri went into Sunday level on 14 under with Catlin, Belgium’s Thomas Pieters and American Caleb Surratt after a 66 in the third round. He was handed a one-stroke penalty for accidentally moving his ball during the final round and never got back into contention. Pieters and Surratt both shot 72 and finished tied sixth.
Karandeep Kochhar was the best-placed Indian. He closed with a 66 to finish tied 14th on 10 under, alongside Peter Uihlein and Lee Westwood.
Catlin pulls clear
Catlin’s only bogey came on the fifth. He then made birdies on the sixth, 10th, 11th, 13th, 14th and 17th to move away from the field. On the 18th he reached the green in two but faced a long, fast downhill putt, so he left his first attempt 12 feet short and then holed the return.
It is the 35-year-old’s seventh Asian Tour title and his sixth national open, after wins in Austria, England, Ireland, Saudi Arabia and Thailand. The win earned him US$360,000 and 787.5 Order of Merit points, lifting him to fourth on the Merit list with one event left, the Philippine Open in two weeks. It also gives him a first invitation to the Masters next year and a place in The Open, where he will make his fifth appearance.
“Hard to put it into words,” Catlin said. “It was an event that I felt like I could do well at that I hadn’t really done well in the previous years, and so to come out and play some really, really solid golf and get the job done, it’s very, very special.”
“If you’d told me that 10 years ago, I probably would have laughed at you,” he said of his sixth national open title.
Best finish by a Hong Kong player
Cheung’s tie for second is the best result by a Hong Kong golfer in the tournament’s history, which dates back to 1959. The previous best was fourth place by Dominique Boulet, now chairman of the Asian Tour, in 1996. Cheung, 31, led after the second round, slipped with a 72 on Saturday and made four birdies and one bogey on Sunday.
“I had a chill going down my spine walking onto the 18th green when they called my name,” Cheung said. “Unfortunately, didn’t get the win, but I’m really happy overall.”
Thailand’s Pavit Tangkamolprasert kept his lead on the Order of Merit, ahead of Australia’s Travis Smyth and South Africa’s Ian Snyman, with the US$1 million Philippine Open still to come.
