Harding toils to maiden win in Asia
JAKARTA: Justin Harding of South Africa put an exclamation point on a closely contested final day as he carded a oneunder-par 71 to win his maiden Asian Tour title at the US$500,000 Indonesia Open yesterday.
The 32-year-old, who missed only three greens in regulation before the final round, uncharacteristically dropped two shots on holes seven and eight. However, he bounced back when it mattered with two birdies before emerging victorious with an 18-under 270 total at the Pondok Indah Golf Course.
Zimbabwe’s Scott Vincent put pressure on Harding early in the round, firing three consecutive birdies on the second, third and fourth holes. But he lost the advantage after dropping three shots at the sixth, ninth and 10th. He eventually ended the week in second place, his fifth top-10 finish this year.
Thailand’s Chapchai Nirat and United States’ Kim Si-Hwan shared third place after carding 68 and 69 respectively. Gaganjeet Bhullar of India was one shot behind the duo in lone fifth place.
Johannes Veerman (66), who led the tournament after the opening round, ended his tournament with a flourish. He grabbed a share of sixth place along with India’s Udayan Mane and Thailand’s Natipong Srithong.
“It was a hard day today. Perhaps it was a case of nerves, but I was playing for a Tour card and there was a lot of money on the line,” said Harding.
“I started well and I thought that I can birdie the sixth then I had two bogeys out of nowhere. My last bogey was at the second hole in the first round! I tried to stay patient and keep the momentum going. I aimed to hit the greens and statistically, you are bound to make one or two. I made one on the 12th, and that got me going.”
Harding will be taking up Asian Tour membership after his win at the Indonesia Open. The current Sunshine Tour Order of Merit leader was playing in the tournament on an invite.
Vincent said, “I can’t be too disappointed with the result. I got off to a good start that put some pressure on him [Harding]. At the end of the day he came through when it mattered. More credit to him. I’m getting very close to winning for sure.”