Close but no cigar
Gavin falls short in bid for Asian Tour win
PETALING JAYA: Malaysian golfer Gavin Kyle Green (pic) failed to make his Asian Tour breakthrough win.
The 23-year-old had to settle for second place behind Canadian Richard T. Lee at the Shinahan Donghae Open in Incheon, South Korea, yesterday.
Starting the day with a one-shot lead, Gavin posted a two-under 69 at the Bears Best Cheongna Golf Club to end with a 10-under 274.
Gavin had several chances to force a playoff with Lee coming down the stretch but spurned his chances by missing several putts.
Lee, whose only win on the Asian Tour came at the Solaire Open in the Philippines in 2014, overcame a two-shot deficit at the start of the day to win by one shot. He posted a five-under 66 to finish on 11-under 273.
Despite the loss, Gavin remains optimistic about his future.
“Richard played well and you cannot do anything about that. There was a little bit of pressure especially coming down the stretch.
“I had my chances on the 16th, 17th and 18th but that’s golf. I also missed a lot of putts but I gave myself a chance, which is the most important thing.
“Second is not bad. If you had told me I would be second at the start of the week, I would have taken it any time,” said Gavin, who will be featuring in the CIMB Classic in Kuala Lumpur from Oct 15-20.
As runner-up, Gavin took home US$116,000 (RM486,272).
For Lee, it was a satisfying comeback from injuries. His career had appeared in a freefall with his Asian Tour card seemingly lost after he suffered a dislocated shoulder and muscle spasm and was left without a win for three years.
But his resolve to win again saw him return to South Korea early to practise on the course for at least six times before the tournament got under way.
Before this tournament, he only made the cut in four events out of 10 starts on the Tour.
“I am going to remember this win for a very long time especially after coming back from injuries and working on my game from scratch again. This win means a lot.
“When I started the round today, I wanted to shoot six-under. But I got the job done with five-under which was great,” said Lee, who pocketed US$190,571 (RM800,000).