Maybank Malaysian Open, Champion Kiradech Aphibarnrat

The Maybank Malaysian Open Champion is Kiradech Aphibarnrat, a 23 year-old from Thailand.

Kiradech Aphibarnrat / Getty Images

Kiradech Aphibarnrat won the Malaysian Maybank Open, at the Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club, by just one shot from Italian Edoardo Molinari. Kiradech finally finished his third round of the weather troubled tournament with a -2 under par round of 70, and a 54 hole total of -13 under par.

Edoardo had finished his round earlier, posting a club house lead of -12 under par. He then had to sit and watch Kiradech catch and the pass his total, although the result was not really finalized until the last hole, which Kiradech bogied.

Kiradech was very happy with his first European Tour win;

“This means a lot to me, I have to thank my family: my Mum and my Dad for all their support.”

Edoardo, who made his first cut since returning from a wrist injury, was pleased with his final round of -5 under par, 67;

“It’s mixed emotions because I’m very happy to have a good week for the first time in a long time, The swing changes are starting to pay off which is surprising because I thought it would take a lot longer. I’m disappointed because I had a lot of chances on the back nine. The 18th is only the second fairway I missed all day which is very disappointing. I felt if I birdied the last I might have won outright because it puts a lot of pressure on the guy coming up behind.” 

 Anders Hansen, of Denmark, finished third after one of the days best rounds of 66. South African Charl Schwartzel and France’s Victor Dubuisson finished a shot further back  at -10 under par in fourth spot.

A surging Padraig Harrington, he went through the turn in 31 strokes, then managed to  drop three shots on the back nine and slipped back into a tie for sixth place.

Avantha Masters, Phadungsil -11 under par, Round 1

 

 

The Avantha Masters in India got off to an amazing start with Chinnarat Phadungsil scorching the  Jaypee Greens Golf & Spa Resort course with an amazing -11 under par round of 61.

 

Chinnarat Phadungsil /Getty Images

Chinnarat, a twenty-four year old from Thailand already has three Asian Tour titles to his name, the first coming aged just seventeen. He dominated the opening day at Jaypee Greens Golf & Spa Resort, and now leads the competition by five shots, after just one round.

Included in his amazing effort was seven birdies in a row on the back nine, just one short of the European Tour record, after completing the front nine in 33 strokes. Chinnarat started his back nine with four regulation birdies, holed a 50 foot putt at the 14th, very nearly pitched in for Eagle at the par five 15th, and followed that with an approach to two feet at the 16th for an incredible seven straight birdies. Another birdie on the 18th gave him eight birdies on the homeward nine, and his total of -11 under par, the lowest 18 hole total on the 2013 Race to Dubai to date.

Chinnarat had to admit that it was his best return ever;

” That’s my best ever round, today I had a lot of great putts. Back nine I hit the driver better than the front nine, but I holed my putts, that’s why I made my score. Today my game was very good so I will keep going.”

Tied in second place on -6 under par are Thailand’s  Chawalit Plaphol and Chapchai Nirat, China’s Liang Wen-Chong, Swede Magnus A Carlsson and the Indian home favourite Abhijit Singh Chadha, all with first rounds of 66.

Abhijit Singh Chadha was playing in his first event where the Professional Golf Tour of India has been co-sanctioned with the European Tour, and said it was a good experience;

” It’s a good field and it’s the first time I’m playing in an event sanctioned with The European Tour. I’ve got no experience at all, I’ve played a couple of events on the Asian Tour, and playing with the big boys really gives you lots of confidence and it’s a really good feeling for me. I don’t feel the pressure of playing the Avantha Masters for the first time, the experience of playing many big international events during my amateur days has really helped me. As an amateur I played a lot of events overseas as part of the Indian team. The atmosphere at these tournaments was similar to that at the Avantha Masters in terms of international participation and the crowds.”

It will be interesting to see how Chinnarat Phadungsil handles the second round, it is always hard to come back and play well after a really low round.

 

 

Honda LPGA Thailand, Rookie Ariya Has three Shot Lead Starting the Final Round

Ariya Jutanugarn

European Tour rookie Ariya Jutanugarn had a 2-under par third round 70 on Saturday and will now take a handsome three-shot lead  into the final round of the Honda LPGA Thailand 2013 at the Siam Country Club, Pattaya Old Course, Chonburi, Thailand.

Ariya has a tournament total of -11 under par, Stacy Lewis is one of those players at -8 under par, Stacy had a disappointing third round of 76, +4 over par. The other two players tied with Stacy are Beatriz Recari, who had an even par 72 round and Se Ri Pak joined them with her -1 under par, 71, third round.

Speaking after her round, Ariya said there was a lot of pressure playing in front of her home crowd;

” I did feel a lot of pressure early on, I felt the whole Thai people hope was on my back. After a few holes people starting to cheer me up, and that made all the pressure gone away. I should do better than a 2-under.”

Beatriz said she had taken a lot of positives from last year, and is hoping for a win this year;

” Last year I take a lot of positives with making every single cut and I played every tournament. That obviously gave me a lot of confidence because I was very consistent but I set up some high goals for this year. I finished tied fourth last week and I just want to be in contention more than I was last year and hopefully get some wins as well. I think it’s just going to be a matter of making putts and not making too many silly mistakes. I think today I just missed in the wrong spot and that cost me a few bogeys. Just got to learn from that and just tomorrow have to be a little bit smarter if the pins are as tough as today.”

 

 

Volvo Golf Champions, Awesome Oosthuizen Wins

Louis Oosthuizen / getty images

Louis Oosthuizen won the Volvo Golf Champions tournament in South Africa at the Durban Country Club on Sunday. He shot an awesome last round 66,  -6 under par, for a -16 under par total, to win by one shot from Scott Jamieson, who could only manage a par round of 72, and watched as the title slipped through his fingers, he finished at -15 under par.

This win is Louis’ sixth European Tour title and one that elevates him to a career-high fourth in the Official World Golf Ranking, pushing England’s Justin Rose down to fifth in the world.

In interview Louis said;

” It was a great week, a lot of things happened. It’s a great start to the year, I knew I had to come out and get my name up there. After being five down, to make it up after 12 holes, I was really chuffed about that. I just played really well all day.”

Scott Jamieson had no shame in losing out to a Major Champion, but was annoyed about his double bogey on hole 5:

“Louis is a Major Champion, there’s no shame in losing to him, I gave it my all, but it wasn’t to be. The double bogey was a kick in the teeth, but I had tons of chances and couldn’t take them.”

Thongchai Jaidee of Thailand secured  third place at – 14 under par, closing with a round of 68, with Ireland’s Padraig Harrington also closing with a -4 under par 68, to climb to fourth position on his own at -12 under par for the tournament.

Lee Westwood Just Misses a 59 with a 5-shot lead in Thailand

Lee Westwood shot a 12 under round of 60 to lead the Thailand Golf Championship tournament, and also had a chance to make it a 59. This achievement follows hot foot on his 62 at the Ned Bank challenge a couple of weeks ago, but this round was even better.

“I’ve never shot a 60 before,  A couple of 61s in Germany. Billy Foster said my 62 two weeks ago at they Nedbank  was as good a round as he’s ever seen but he said today was better.”

“It was in my mind to get to 13 under but it wasn’t to be, I gave myself a few chances. Left one short on the hole on 11 and one short on 14. Had a good chance on 16 as well.

“I don’t think you can be disappointed with a 60. I have to be a fairly harsh critic of myself to walk away disappointed.”

John Daly who was playing in the group following Lee said.

“That was just one hell of a round, I would have never ever dreamed that I would shoot a 7 under let alone a 12 under. My hat that I’m not wearing is off to him because that was just an awesome round of golf he played.”

Photo / AP