Charl Schwartzel ends his 20-month winning drought at the Thailand Golf Championship
Charl Schwartzel of South Africa carded a seven-under par 65 in the final round of the Thailand Golf Championship, to record a stunning 11-shot victory over Thitiphun Chuayprakong and Bubba Watson, on Sunday, December 9, 2012.
The Asian Tour event was being staged at the Amata Spring Country Club, and was the last event before the season-ending Iskandar Johor Open.
Last year, the South African finished second on the leaderboard, after recording a 15-under par tournament score, seven shots behind the winner Lee Westwood.
Prior to the start of the second edition of the event this season, the 2011 Masters champion expressed his wish to go one better on the leaderboard.
At the end of the week, it seemed as if he achieved his target with quite ease. His 11-stroke margin was the third highest in the history of the Asian Tour.
“It’s been a great week. We had such a good time last year and obviously I came in second. I do know how the guys feel like as I had the same feeling last year when I lost to Lee by quite a margin. I played some solid golf. I’m very happy,” he said.
Talking to the Asian Tour’s official website, he expressed his pleasure in ending his 20-month winning drought, as he did not win a single event after his victory at Augusta National in 2011.
“It’s always hard when you’ve won such a big tournament (and not win again). You go on a high and you feel that you can win all the ones that you play in. ...It’s nice to put things in place and get the win that I’ve been looking for a while,” added Schwartzel.
Entering the final round, the 28-year-old held a five-stroke lead. Thereafter, he did not allow his rivals to get close to him, as he carded four birdies on the front nine to reach the turn in four-under.
He then added another three shots to his scorecard on the back nine of the course, to stretch his lead to 11 strokes.
The defending champion Westwood, in the meantime, carded a nine-under par tournament score, to finish tied for the 11th position.
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