Taipei: Chiragh Kumar carded a two-under 70 to record his best finish in more than 22 months as he ended tied fifth at the Yeangder Tournament Players Championship (TPC) on Sunday. Chiragh's previous two top-10s in last two years have both been achieved at the Indian Open on his home course.
Meanwhile, Gaganjeet Bhullar, the defending champion, dropped from overnight 22nd to tied 41st with a final round of 76. Rahil Gangjee, too, had a disappointing finish with a round of 74 that saw him finish tied 55th in the event which was won by Thai star Thaworn Wiratchant, who rediscovered his best form for an unprecedented 16th Asian Tour title on Sunday.
The reigning Asian Tour Order of Merit winner, whose best result prior to this week was tied 28th in May, battled to a four-under-par 68 for a 13-under-par 275 total to win by one-shot at the US$500,000 Asian Tour event.
Overnight leader Kim, winner of the Asian Tour Qualifying School in January, led for most of the round but stumbled in the closing stretch when he made three straight bogeys from the 15th hole. He settled for second after shooting a 70 at the Linkou International Golf and Country Club.
Angelo Que of the Philippines, a three-time Asian Tour winner, ended his campaign with a 66, the best round of the day, to finish lone third on 279 while Chinese Taipei’s Chan Shih-chang (67) was a further shot back.
“I’m very proud because I can still win at the age of 46. I was really struggling with my irons but I chipped and putted so well. I honestly didn’t think that I could win,” said Thaworn, who also won the inaugural Yeangder TPC in 2010.
The Thai veteran traded two birdies and one bogey after four holes to trail Kim by three shots but recovered after a one-hour rain suspension with a pair of birdies on five and six. He added another birdie on 13 and cruised home to victory as Kim faded.
“Kim is such a powerful golfer and he had a lot of advantage on the par fives. I had to stay patient. I didn’t think I could have won and I would have been satisfied with second place. But he started to drop shots and all of a sudden I was in the lead and I won,” smiled Thaworn.
The powerful Kim was disappointed with his late collapse after he got off to a hot start when he eagled the first hole from three feet and added birdies on holes three, four and 10.
“I got a little greedy. I tried to get my ball out further so I could get a shorter club into the green. I think that’s something which I have to learn because all I had to do today was actually play a bit smarter. I will use this experience in my future tournaments,” said the disappointed 23-year-old Kim.
Chinese Taipei’s Chan, who won on the Asian Development Tour (ADT) in Malaysia last week, continued his rich vein of form when he shot six birdies against two bogeys to emerge as the best local player.
“The win on the ADT last week gave me a great boost in confidence. I’ve been telling myself to find that winning form and reproduce it here this week. It motivates me to play well. My aim is to do well in the remaining half of the Asian Tour season,” said Chan.
Scores after round 4 of the Yeangder TPC being played at the par 72, 7125 Yards Linkou GCC course (a- denotes amateur):
275 - Thaworn WIRATCHANT (THA) 69-67-71-68.
276 - Chan KIM (USA) 70-68-68-70.
279 - Angelo QUE (PHI) 74-72-67-66.
280 - CHAN Shih-chang (TPE) 71-71-71-67.
281 - LU Chien-soon (TPE) 72-72-68-69, Chiragh KUMAR (IND) 68-69-74-70, BAEK Seuk-hyun (KOR) 73-69-69-70, HSU Mong-nan (TPE) 69-68-71-73, YEH Wei-tze (TPE) 73-67-67-74.
282 - Matthew STIEGER (AUS) 69-73-72-68, Berry HENSON (USA) 71-70-71-70.
284 - Rory HIE (INA) 72-72-72-68, Gunn CHAROENKUL (THA) 72-75-67-70.
285 - Prayad MARKSAENG (THA) 73-74-70-68.
286 - Jake HIGGINBOTTOM (AUS) 69-73-76-68, LAM Chih Bing (SIN) 72-70-72-72, Jaakko MAKITALO (FIN) 73-73-65-75.
