Thaworn Wiratchant wins the Asian Tour Order of Merit title
Thaworn Wiratchant of Thailand finished his Iskandar Johor Open campaign five strokes ahead of Marcus Fraser, to become the Asian Tour Order of Merit winner for the second time in his career.
The Iskandar Johor Open, which was being staged at the Horizon Hills Golf and Country Club, was the last tournament on the Asian Tour roster. Therefore, Wiratchant desperately needed to finish ahead of the second ranked Fraser in the event.
Entering the third and the final round, the Thai star was sharing the 26th position on the leaderboard. In addition to that, he was trailing Fraser by two strokes. He then came flying out of the blocks by carding birdies on four of the first nine holes that he played.
The back nine of the course witnessed him add another four shots to his scorecard, to post a seven-under par 65. At the end of the day, he found himself sharing the fifth place on the leaderboard.
Fraser, in the meantime, failed to keep the momentum going, and carded an even-par 72, to finish tied for the 21st position. As a result, he failed to challenge Wiratchant on top of the Order of Merit.
Wiratchant, who is 45 years and 351 days old, became the oldest winner of the money list title, in the history of the Asian Tour.
Talking to the Asian Tour’s official website, he stated that he was not feeling the pressure, as he had only one competitor in the tournament.
“I didn’t feel any pressure because there was only one competitor – Marcus Fraser. I put in a lot of effort and focus to win this year so I’m very happy that I finished as number one,” said Thaworn.
“I never thought I could win the Order of Merit at this age. I just enjoy playing week by week and meeting my friends on Tour. I’m quite happy with that”.
After securing the victory in the Order of Merit, Wiratchant confirmed his place in next year’s British Open and the World Golf Championships – Cadillac Championship. In addition to that, he also received a five-year exemption to play on the Asian Tour.
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