Nicholas climbs up Order of Merit after good show in Japan

PETALING JAYA: Malaysia’s Nicholas Fung carded a final round of one-under 69 to finish a creditable 12th in the ¥150mil (RM6.13mil) AsiaPacific Diamond Cup in Osaka, Japan.

The 26-year-old posted a four-day total of three-under 277 at the Ibaraki Country Club, seven shots behind winner Chan Shih-chang of Taiwan.

Shih-chang bagged his second Asian Tour crown in two months after firing a superb 62 for a 10-under 270 to beat Japan’s Ippei Koike by two strokes in the Japan Golf Tour co-sanctioned meet.

“My target was just to make cut, so I’m very pleased with how I fared this week. It’s never easy to play in Japan,” said Nicholas, who missed the cut on his debut in 2014 and finished tied 66th last year.

Nicholas has now made seven cuts in his 11 Asian Tour appearances this season, including two top 10s.

Yesterday, he picked up US$20,643 (RM85,170) to climb four spots to 24th in the Order of Merit and keep his hopes of qualifying for the CIMB Classic alive. Nicholas needs to break into top 10 before the Oct 11 cut-off date to qualify for the lucrative US PGA Tour event at the TPC Kuala Lumpur from Oct 20-23.

He has two more events – Taiwan Masters starting on Thursday and Indonesian Masters (Oct 6-9) – to improve his position.

National No. 1 Danny Chia and amateur Galven Kendall Green were also in action at the AsiaPacific Diamond Cup, but both missed the cut.