Jakarta: Japan’s Masaru Takahashi sparked a superb final day charge with an eight-under-par 64 to end a four-year wait for his second Asian Development Tour (ADT) title at the Ciputra Golfpreneur Tournament presented by Panasonic on Saturday.
The 30-year-old Japanese, who started the round six shots back, fired one eagle and four birdies to cap a brilliant front nine 30 before going on to sink four birdies against two bogeys to claim a one-shot victory on 19-under-par 269 total at the Damai Indah Golf, BSD Course.
Overnight leader Mardan Mamat of Singapore, who held a three-shot advantage heading into the round, came home strongly with two birdies in his last three holes but fell one shot shy of forcing a play-off after a 35-feet birdie putt lipped out on the last.
The 49-year-old Singaporean veteran, a five-time winner on the premier Asian Tour, closed with a battling 71 to settle for second place on his own at the US$100,000 event, which is the 10th leg of the ADT schedule and the Tour’s first stop in Indonesia this season.
American Casey O’Toole, 2015 ADT Order of Merit champion, carded a 68 to finish two shots back in third place with Thailand’s Tirawat Kaewsiribandit (69) while Danny Masrin closed with a second straight 68 to emerge as the best-placed Indonesian in tied-19th position on 277.
“I played solid today. Everything went well for me. I started really well. I had a chip-in for eagle from about 10 yards on the eighth hole. That gave me a lot of confidence heading into my back nine. I am really happy with this win. It has been a long time,” said Masaru.
“I was quite nervous actually, waiting in the clubhouse for Mardan (Mamat) to finish. I was prepared for a play-off after he birdied 16 and 17. He played well and put up a good fight. I did my best and I am pleased with how I played,” Masaru added.
Masaru will take home a winner’s prize purse of US$19,250 and receive six Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) points courtesy of his win. The top six players and ties will also earn points based on a sliding scale.
Masaru, who has not finish outside of top-10 in five starts on the region’s secondary circuit this season, also took over the top spot on the Order of Merit following his victory.
He leads the money list with a current haul of US$36,410 while Thailand’s Pannakorn Uthaipas trails by about US$2,000 in second place.
For more information on the ADT, please visit www.asiandevelopmenttour.com.
Leading final round scores:
269 - Masaru TAKAHASHI (JPN) 69 66 70 64
270 - Mardan MAMAT (SGP) 69 65 65 71
271 - Casey O'TOOLE (USA) 68 68 67 68, Tirawat KAEWSIRIBANDIT (THA) 65 71 66 69
272 - Antonio LASCUNA (PHI) 66 70 67 69, Gunn CHAROENKUL (THA) 69 69 65 69
273 - Seungjae MAENG (USA) 69 68 67 69, Blake SNYDER (USA) 64 72 66 71
274 - Steve LEWTON (ENG) 67 71 69 67, Nirun SAE-UENG (THA) 71 67 66 70, Michael BIBAT (PHI) 68 67 67 72, James BYRNE (SCO) 69 67 66 72
275 - Janne KASKE (FIN) 69 71 67 68, Udayan MANE (IND) 66 73 68 68, Suradit YONGCHAROENCHAI (THA) 69 69 68 69, Quincy QUEK (SGP) 70 64 71 70, Johnson POH (SGP) 68 67 68 72
276 - Nattawat SUVAJANAKORN (THA) 67 69 71 69
277 - Donlaphatchai NIYOMCHON (THA) 69 71 68 69, KOH Deng Shan (SGP) 67 72 68 70, Danny MASRIN (INA) 70 71 68 68, Wolmer MURILLO (VEN) 66 67 73 71
278 - CHOO Tze Huang (SGP) 71 69 70 68
