Lu wins four years after brain surgery
TAMSUI: Lu Wei-chih of Taiwan won the Mercuries Taiwan Masters yesterday to revive his career after going through a brain surgery to remove a non-malignant tumour in mid-2012.
Lu battled against the odds to shoot a two-under-par 70 and win the tournament for the third time in his career with a five-under 283 total at the Taiwan Golf and Country Club, which is also his home course.
Miguel Tabuena of the Philippines fired a 70 to finish in second place, one shot back from the champion, while Thailand’s Danthai Boonma and Phachara Khongwatmai shared third place on 285s at the US$800,000 Asian Tour event.
Panuphol Pittayarat of Thailand, who led in the first three rounds, slipped to a share of sixth place following a disappointing 76.
The story of the day belonged to the 37-year-old Lu, who showed true perseverance to bounce back from his operation and revive his golf career.
“It means a lot to me to win this tournament. After the surgery, I thought I couldn’t play golf anymore so to be a winner again is amazing,” said the emotional Lu, who won $160,000.
“After the surgery I took things slowly.I started by hitting 100 balls and after that, I blanked out. It was so tiring. At that time I thought I couldn’t play golf anymore.
“But my family pushed me. My wife, my father and my mother kept pushing me and kept motivating me to keep fighting. I’m here today because of them. The victory is for them as well. I’m blessed to have them in my life.”
Lu, who won the Taiwan showpiece in 2005 and 2011, fought back from two bogeys in his opening six holes by shooting six birdies against two bogeys including one on the last hole where he succumbed to nerves and three putted.