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THAILAND’S Chapchai Nirat holed a four-foot par putt to beat Filipino veteran Antonio Lascuna in the first play-off hole to lift the Worldwide Holdings Selangor Masters title yesterday.
Big-hitting Chapchai, who is nicknamed ‘King Kong’ by his friends, held his nerve at the Seri Selangor Golf Club to secure his fourth Asian Tour victory, ending a five-year title drought in the RM1.3 million event.
The best placed Malaysian’s were Danny Chia (74-68-73- 71) and Shaaban Husin (68-70-81-67) who ended joint 31 on a total of two over 286.
The 43-year-old Lascuna charged into contention with a masterful 63 to tie Chapchai, who closed with a 68 which included two finishing bogeys, on 10-under-par 274. The Thai then sealed the win when Lascuna’s missed his par putt from five feet in play-off.
India’s Anirban Lahiri settled for third place, two behind the play-off duo, following a final round 68 while Order of Merit leader David Lipsky of the United States (71) and overnight leader Cameron Smith of Australia (73) were amongst those who shared fourth place on 278.
“I didn’t think this day would happen,” said a delighted Chapchai, who was drenched with water by Thai players who had gathered around the 18th green.
“I didn’t think I’d have a chance to win (after five years). Golf is a game where you need to stay patient. I always talked to my caddie that if I could keep my form, I felt I could get one win again,” added the Thai, who earned US$72,670 to jump into sixth place on the Order of Merit.
Chapchai, who holds the world scoring record of 32-under-par 256 when he won the SAIL Open in India in 2009, made life difficult for himself. With a two-shot cushion with two remaining, he hit errant drives which led to bogeys. But it didn’t matter at the end as he survived the play-off drama.
