Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, November 8 - Thailand’s Sattaya Supupramai carded a third consecutive five-under-par 67 to clinch his third Asian Development Tour (ADT) victory at the weather-disrupted PGM UMW Impian Championship on Saturday.
The RM200,000 (approximately US$60,000) ADT event, which was affected by several suspensions due to inclement weather throughout the week, had earlier been reduced to 54-holes by tournament officials. The third and final round, scheduled to resume at 9.30am local time, was delayed by two-hours on Saturday morning due to persistent rain.
Sattaya compiled a three-day total of 15-under-par 201 to win by two shots over Ben Leong of Malaysia, who signed for a 67, at the Impian Golf and Country Club.
Malaysia’s Airil Rizman settled for third place on 205 following a 67 while Arie Irawan, also of Malaysia, recorded the day’s lowest score of 66 to share fourth place with American Casey O’Toole (68) and Thailand’s Annop Tangkamolprasert (69) on 207.
Chinese Taipei’s Chan Shih-chang, placed second on the Order of Merit, failed to topple Thailand’s Pavit Tangkamolprasert on the top of the merit rankings as he closed with a 69 to share seventh place with local veteran R. Nachimuthu on 208.
Pavit, who signed for a closing 70 to finish tied-29th, remained on top of the money list where he now leads by a mere US$252.
Indonesian amateur Tirto Tamardi was close to a top ten finish, missing out by a single shot. A final round 68 got him to a total of 210 strokes and a share of 12th place for the tournament, a fantastic result for the 15-year old junior golfer.
Sattaya took home a winner’s prize purse of US$10,635 and six Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) points following his victory.
“I am very happy because this win will secure my place in top-five on the merit rankings now. The conditions have been tough, especially having to stop and restart our rounds so many times. Having a strong mindset is really important in situations like this. I told myself to stay patient and focused out there. I’m glad it worked out well for me,” said the 30-year-old Thai.
Sattaya had notched a top-10 finish at the Asian Tour’s Worldwide Holdings Selangor Masters earlier in September, two weeks after claiming his second ADT victory in Malaysia.
“That top-10 finish on the Asian Tour gave me a lot of confidence. It shows that I am able to compete against the top players in the region. I’m looking forward to playing on the Asian Tour in the next couple of weeks,” added Sattaya, who mixed his card with six birdies against a lone bogey.
Leong, a one-time winner on the Asian Tour, capped a flawless back nine highlighted by two birdies and one eagle to mark his best finish on the ADT this season.
“It has been a good week for me. I couldn’t expect more. I’m actually surprised with my score. It’s been good since returning to competitive golf, having secured one win on the domestic Tour and a second-placed finish this week.
“I’ll be playing a couple more events on the local Tour before heading to the Asian Tour’s Qualifying School early next year. Hopefully I can keep up my momentum,” said the 28-year-old Malaysian, who sat out the entire 2013 season due to a back injury.
Since its inauguration in 2010, the ADT has grown from five events in the first year to a record 21 tournaments in 2014. The top-five finishers on the Order of Merit at the end of the season will earn Asian Tour cards for 2015.
All ADT events also receive Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) points which is a boost for the game in the region.
Leading third round scores:
201 – Sattaya SUPUPRAMAI (THA) 67-67-67
203 – Ben LEONG (MAS) 67-69-67
205 – Airil Rizman ZAHARI (MAS) 69-69-67
207 – Arie IRAWAN (MAS) 72-69-66, Casey O’TOOLE (USA) 68-71-68, Annop TANGKAMOLPRASERT (THA) 68-70-69
208 – CHAN Shih-chang (TPE) 71-68-69, R. Nachimuthu (MAS) 70-66-72
209 – Danny CHIA (MAS) 75-67-67, Michael MOORE (AUS) 71-70-68, Kemarol BAHARIN (MAS) 68-69-72
Selected:
210 - Tirto TAMARDI (A) (INA) 74-68-68
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