Kenneth De Silva wins the Asian Development Tour’ PGM Sarawak Masters
Kenneth De Silva fired a blistering seven-under par 65 in the final round of the PGM Sarawak Masters and secured the first Asian Development Tour victory of his career, on Sunday, October 14, 2012.
The Malaysian started off his final round campaign three strokes off the lead. After birdying the first three holes, he clearly offered a tough challenge to his rivals on the top.
The 21-year-old then kept on playing amazing shots at the Sarawak Golf Club, Kuching, and finished the front nine with a 30 on his scorecard.
Entering the final hole, he was tied for the top spot with Peter Richardson, with a four-under par overall score.
However, he did not allow the game to enter the sudden-death playoffs, as he drained a 20-foot birdie putt to take the title home.
“I told myself that I needed to birdie the last to win,” said De Silva. “My caddie was giving me a lot of good lines and I felt confident with the last putt”.
He added, “When I got up this morning, I somehow felt good to play and I just got off to a really good start. I was really relaxed on the back nine and I drew on my experiences of winning (12) amateur events”.
With De Silva’s victory, Malaysia now has two players to have recorded victories on the ADT Tour, which was launched in 2010 by the Asian Tour. S. Siva Chandhran was the other player who clinched a victory in the past.
Silva is now RM31,500 (approximately US$10,500) richer, as the victory allowed him to pocket a handsome amount of money.
“This feels so good. It’s my first win as a professional and the best score in my life. My putting was so good … I took less than 25 putts,” said De Silva.
Talking to the Asian Tour’s official website, he stated that the victory will allow him to forget the meltdown that he faced during the Asian Tour’s qualifying tournament early this season.
Entering the final hole at the Qualifying School, he had a very good chance of earning a full-time playing card for the Asian Tour.
However, a quadruple bogey on the ninth hole, the 72nd of the tournament, completely ruined his chances of making it to the bigger stage.
Tags: