Eugene Wong records his first professional victory at the Canadian Tour Championship
Eugene Wong carded a four-under par 67 in the final round of the Canadian Tour Championship, to seal a one-stroke victory over Joe Panzeri, at the Scarboro Golf & Country Club, on Sunday, August 26, 2012.
Wong, who started off his final-round campaign with a 10-under par overall score, eagled the opening hole and threatened his opponents early in the day.
However, he failed to keep the momentum going and bogeyed the fifth hole. Through 15 holes, he kept on registering pars until the second birdie of the day came on the 16th hole.
In the meantime, Panzeri surged to the top of the leaderboard after carding seven birdies against three bogeys. "I got myself to the top of the leaderboard and hit solid shots coming in," said Panzeri.
As the day progressed, it seemed as if Panzeri will take the title home, as Wong was not having a good day with his putter.
Standing on the 18th tee, Wong was trailing Panzeri by one shot. Therefore, he desperately needed a birdie to force the game to enter into the sudden-death playoffs.
He got off to a perfect start and drove the ball into the fairway. Afterwards, he grabbed the nine-iron from his bag and airmailed the ball from 133 yards, directly into the hole for an amazing eagle.
It was Wong’s first professional victory of his career and one of the best in the Canadian Tour history.
“There's a funny story to that shot,” confessed Wong. “My caddie and I were walking up the fairway, and he said 'it would be nice to hole it right now, wouldn't it? I said 'yeah, it would’”.
After pocketing $16,000 prize money, the 2010 Jack Nicklaus Award winner also earned a two-year exemption on the Canadian Tour.
"My confidence is really high now. I know I can compete with the pros and I'm happy to get my first win, so there's one milestone down," added Wong.
Meanwhile, Panzeri looked disappointed with his overall performance, especially with a bogey on the 13th hole, which took him down from 14-under par to 13-under par tournament score.
Wong was happy to hold a professional title, after making only his third start on the Canadian Tour.
He is now scheduled to participate in the Vancouver Open, a Vancouver Golf Tour event, from August 31 to September 2, 2012. The following week will witness him appear at the final tournament of the Canadian Tour, The Great Waterway Classic.
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