Dominant Kiradech triumphs
Thai canters to a six-shot wire-to-wire victory at Richard Mille Brunei Championships
>> BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN: Thai star Kiradech Aphibarnrat cruised to a six-shot victory by firing a final round three-under-par 68 at the Richard Mille Brunei Championships yesterday.
The world No.36 dominated the inaugural event where he completed a stunning wire-to-wire victory to clinch his third Asian Development Tour (ADT) title at the Empire Hotel and Country Club.
Kiradech ended his campaign on 23-under-par 261 to win by six shots over John Catlin of the United States who returned with a superb 65.
The 28-year-old Kiradech got off to a solid start by making the turn in 34 before adding three birdies against two bogeys on his homeward nine to claim his second title of the year following his victory at the World Super 6 Perth last month.
“On the back nine I lost my concentration a little bit. My target was to try and beat the course record of 61 and I was thinking too much. My putts were not dropping in the first five holes on the back nine. Hole 12 was bad for me, where I hit a bad drive to the right and had to chip it out and then didn’t save par,” said Kiradech. “Everyone was surprised when I took my driver out on hole 15 because it should just be a threeiron off the tee, but I had nothing to lose and I had a seven-stroke lead so I just wanted to change it and I made a birdie.”
A huge crowd gathered to watch the popular Thai march to victory.
“It surprised me that so many people came out to watch despite the hot and humid weather. It feels fantastic to win again. I didn’t have too much pressure on me today, I was just enjoying my round and playing my own game,” said Kiradech.
With two wins over two months, Kiradech will be heading back to the US next week to play in the WGC-Dell Technologies Match play event before heading to the Masters. “I wanted to use this to gain confidence. I have been playing great golf over the last four weeks. I am hitting it well and my mind is in the right place so I am going back to the US in great form,” he added.