Thailand’s Poom cruises to victory in Indonesia

Thailand’s Poom Saksansin cruised to a comfortable five-shot victory when he closed with a five-under-par 67 to win his first Asian Tour title at the BNI Indonesian Masters yesterday.

The 23-year-old held a two-shot lead at the start of the day and stayed ahead of the chasing pack by shooting six birdies against one bogey to finish on 18-underpar 270 at the Royale Jakarta Golf Club.

Thai teenagers Phachara Khongwatmai and Suradit Yongcharoenchai, both aged 17, and Japan’s Masahiro Kawamura settled for tied second place at the $750,000 event.

Poom, who won his first Asian Development Tour title in Malaysia last year, showed no signs of nerves when he made the turn in 34 before tightening his grip with three straight birdies on holes 10, 11 and 12.

Dropping only two shots in 72 holes, Poom played solid golf throughout the week and stayed calm under pressure when a host of players briefly threatened his lead early in the round.

“It feels great to be a champion. I just tried not to make bogeys today. Anything in the red numbers was good enough for me. Honestly, I was only hoping to make enough money to keep my Asian Tour card. This victory exceeded my expectations,” the golfer said in comments supplied by the organisers.

The victory earned him $135,000, which promoted him from 101st to 21st position on the Asian Tour Order of Merit. “This win opens up so many doors and opportunities for me. I get to play in the big events now and I’m really looking forward to it. There’s still a lot of room for improvement for me and before I step up in the big events, I need to work even harder on my game,” Poom said. Scores after round 4 of the BNI Indonesian Masters (par 72): 270 - Poom SAKSANSIN (THA) 69-69-65-67 275 - Phachara KHONGWATMAI (THA) 6771-69-68, Suradit YONGCHAROENCHAI (THA) 67- 74-66-68, Masahiro KAWAMURA (JPN) 66-71-68-70 276 - Gaganjeet BHULLAR (IND) 66-73-70-67 277 - Chikkarangappa S. (IND) 70-67-73-67, LEE Chieh-Po (TPE) 71-70-68-68 278 - Casey O’TOOLE (USA) 69-69-73-67, Marcus FRASER (AUS) 69-67-70-72, Thongchai JAIDEE (THA) 68-69-69-72, Kalem RICHARDSON (AUS) 68-68-69-73. —AFP