Brilliant Thaworn Wiratchant wins again on the Asian Tour
Thaworn Wiratchant outshined Richie Ramsay on the first extra hole in the playoffs of the Hero Indian Open, to take home his third Asian Tour title of the season, on Sunday, October 21, 2012.
The Thai star started off his final round campaign with a two-stroke deficit against the overnight leader, Ramsay.
Throughout the day, he struggled with his driver. However, his iron-play was near to perfect. As a result, he managed to sign a total of six birdies against a lone bogey on his scorecard for the final round.
At the end of the day, he settled for a five-under par 66, after finishing his round with a birdie on the 18th hole. At that time, he was one-stroke behind Ramsay.
Therefore, Ramsay only needed two par putts to take the title home. However, he bogeyed the 18th hole to enter the playoffs with Wiratchant.
The final-hole bogey completely demolished the Scot’s confidence, as he lost control over his nerves and double-bogeyed the first extra hole.
Wiratchant, in the meantime, took advantage of the scenario and drained a bogey-putt to register the 15th Asian Tour victory of his career. The victory also moved the 45-year-old to the top spot in the Asian Tour Order of Merit.
“I think I only found two fairways in regulation and I didn’t see where Richie was on the 18th hole until the crowd started shouting. It was a huge surprise to me but I’m glad I won,” he said.
Talking to the Asian Tour’s official website, he stated that he was not expecting a victory, especially after playing poorly with his clubs.
“To be honest, I didn’t expect to win with the way I was driving the ball this week. It means a lot that I’ve won a second Hero Indian Open title and that I’m now leading the Asian Tour Order of Merit,” said Thaworn, who totaled 14-under-par 270 and won
US$198,125.
Panuphol Pittayarat, in the meantime, finished with a 13-under par tournament score to record a third-place finish at the Karnataka Golf Association course.
Indian Shiv Kapur was the only local participant to finish among the top-five players on the leaderboard. He carded a 12-under par overall score to take the sole fourth position.
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