Fung comes out tops in Melaka
Despite second round blip, Shahriffuddin finishes runner-up
Nicholas Fung shot a bogey-free three-under final round to win the Professional Golf of Malaysia (PGM) Tour’s RM120,000 Tiara Melaka championship 2022.
and the sabah player, who marked the victory at Tiara Melaka Golf & country club with his second PGM Tour title of the season, buried a birdie putt on the 54th hole to pip shahriffuddin ariffin by a single stroke.
Fung carded a nine-under-par 207 for the win, while shahriffuddin, seeking a fourth triumph on the tour this year, finished with a five-under 67 for his 208 total.
Kenneth De silva, who stumbled to an opening day 73 before bouncing back rather smartly, shot a third round 68 to claim place., three strokes off the lead, while Ervin chang, who only turned pro after the south-east asian (sea) Games earlier this year, was tied for fourth with sukree othman, another shot back.
Khor Kheng hwai finished sixth on 212 and Paul san, winner of the Northport championship at Glenamrie last month, was seventh on three-under 213.
M. sasidaran, syahiran syakir and Kemarol Baharin were joint eighth in the season’s penultimate tournament.
Fung, who took home the winner’s cheque of RM21,000, said he was pleased to have followed up his PGM Pahang championship win in July with another victory, before heading off to Bangladesh for this week’s event on the asian Tour.
The Bangabandhu cup Golf Bangladesh open at Kurmitola Golf club, south of Dhaka, starts on Thursday and carries prize money of Us$400,000.
shahriffuddin, who led the tournament after the first round before slipping to fifth on the second day, set the clubhouse lead at eight-under.
he finished with a composed 67, six birdies (three on each nine), and a bogey at the par-4 fifth hole.
Not disgruntled with his finish, shahriffuddin said: “i did my best and came close. i played some good golf, but my second round of even-par 72 could have been better.”
indeed, he could have, as a spot of bother at the par-5 7th and par-4 8th cost him four strokes in the second round.
in the toss-up with Fung for the best player on tour this season, shahriffuddin also had four birdies on his card on the second day.
“i will continue to work hard and practice as much as i can,” said shahriffuddin, who also won three PGM tournaments in a row in the first half of the season.
splitting his time with events around the region, shahriffuddin is seventh on the asian Development
Tour, where he has played 11 tournaments this season and accrued Us$20,030.
De silva set himself up for a polished finish, and almost pulled it off. he eagled the par-5 16th hole, but then let things slip somewhat when he bogeyed the 18th. still, his third-place finish at six-under-par was a commendable effort in the circumstances.
Erwin, who crowned his amateur career with a gold medal at the sea Games in May, had birdies in his last round, only for three bogeys to take some of the shine off.
another of the Malaysian players featuring on the regional circuits, Erwin picked up a cheque for RM6,000 for his week’s work in Melaka.
sukree’s tie for fourth was marked by a mundane one-under 71 in the final round – with one birdie to show for it.
happy with how it all panned out in Melaka, PGM Tour general
“There was good golf played here at Tiara Melaka. The level of play has definitely improved .” nik mustapha nik mohamed
manager Nik Mustapha Nik Mohamed said: “There was good golf played here at Tiara Melaka.
“The level of play has definitely improved and it’s good to see some of our players competing in tournaments in neighbouring countries, particularly indonesia and Thailand.
“This can only help them become better players,” said Nik.
“The more international exposure they get, the better it will be for their improvement. of course, this applies to almost all sports, not just golf.”
The next and final PGM Tour event for 2022 is the Danau championship at Danau Golf club, selangor, from Dec 20 to 22.
Leading final scores:
1 -9 Nicholas Fung (70-69-68) 2 -8 Shahriffuddin Ariffin (69-72-67) 3 -6 Kenneth De Silva (73-69-68) T4 -5 Ervin Chang (70-72-69), Sukree Othman (71-69-71) 6 -4 Khor Kheng Hwai (73-72-67) 7 -3 Paul San (72-68-73) T8 -2 M. Sasidaran (72-73-69), Syahiran Syakir (72-71-71), Kemarol Baharin (73-66-75).