Resurgent Lam Claims Thriller Former wunderkind rallies to win the Hong Kong Close Amateur at the last gasp PHOTOGRAPHY BY DANIEL WONG
S
teven Lam ended the season on a high by holing a 15-foot birdie putt on the final green to claim the Mizuno Hong Kong Close Amateur Championship in dramatic fashion at a frigid Fanling over the Lunar New Year. Nineteen-year-old Lam, who had entered the final round with a three-shot advantage over perennial championship contender Max Wong, looked to have ruined his chances of a second victory in the tournament after three-putting the 16th green to give the experienced Wong, who birdied the same hole, a slender lead coming down the last.
But after Lam's clutch putt, which was set up by a fine sixiron from 170 yards, Wong agonisingly missed a four footer for par that would have taken the championship to a sudden-death play-off. "It feels great to have won because it was such a tough day," admitted Lam, who last won the tournament in 2009 and booked his berth at November's Hong Kong Open by virtue of the victory. "I knew I had to make a birdie on 18 to have any chance, but it was hard on Max. I didn't expect him to bogey." It was indeed hard on Max. Wong, who had been outdriving Lam consistently throughout the round, had clawed his way back
Final Standings
Former champion Roderick de Lacy Staunton got off to a bright start and finished only three shots back Max Wong, who played the best of anyone over the final three rounds, was left to rue a poor opening 79
Pressure Putt: Lam celebrates holing a curling left-toright 15-footer on the final green HKGOLFER.COM
1
Steven Lam
71 69 75 72
287
2
Max Wong
79 68 71 70
288
3
Roderick de Lacy Staunton
71 71 75 73
290
4
Shinichi Mizuno
76 71 77 68
292
5
Antony Lung
77 75 77 71
300
6
Oliver Roberts
74 76 79 72
301
7
Winston Wu
75 76 74 78
303
8=
Ron Totton
73 79 76 77
305
Matthew Cheung
77 75 76 77
305
10=
Doug Williams
75 79 77 76
307
Anthony Tam
74 77 80 76
307
12
Tim Orgill
79 73 77 79
308
13=
Jonathan Yeap
79 78 78 74
309
Mark McDonald
73 81 78 77
309
15=
Marcus Lam
79 79 80 78
316
Michael Stott
76 80 80 80
316
17
Jay Won
78 76 84 79
317
18
Alexander Jewkes
78 78 79 83
318
19
Tony Jiang
79 79 75 86
319
20
Ian Chung
80 75 80 85
320
HK GolferăƒťFEB 2012
37
Close Contenders (clockwise from top): The long-hitting Oliver Roberts earned solo sixth place; reigning champion Shinichi Mizuno finished with a flourish; Winston Wu's seventh place rounded out a solid season 38
HK Golfer・FEB 2012
into the reckoning thanks to a stellar display on the greens. The miss on the last was wholly uncharacteristic, not that the man himself was complaining once the groans from the gallery assembled by the green had died down. "Hey, I tried," said Wong. Lam, who finished on a four-round total of 287 (seven-over-par) – one ahead of Wong and three ahead of another past champion, Roderick de Lacy Staunton – has experienced a rather topsy-turvy year. At the same event in 2011,
he was well off the pace, finishing 12 strokes behind winner Shinichi Mizuno, who put in a stout defence of his title, carding a fine finalround 68 to finish in fourth. Overlooked for Hong Kong's Putra Cup team in September, Lam then struggled at the UBS Hong Kong Open qualifying event at Kau Sai Chau, slumping to a second-round 81 over a course on which he holds the amateur course record – 65. Not the kind of displays that Lam, who has been put in the shade by the likes of Jason Hak, Liu Lok-tin and Mizuno in recent times, would like to be reminded of. But there have been highlights. On the HKGA summer tour of the United States, Lam finished one-under-par at the prestigious SCPGA Jack Kramer Memorial tournament to place fifth and then carded three solid rounds at the rain-shortened Masters Golf Fashion Hong Kong Open Amateur at Discovery Bay in October to earn second place and end the tournament as the top Hong Kong player. That performance, combined with this Fanling win, helped Lam to the 2011/2012 HKGA Order of Merit title. "I haven't played my best for a long time," admitted Lam, who is eyeing a university place in September. "But I'm trying harder now. It's been difficult because a lot of my time has been taken up with school work and exams but I'm more focused than I have been for a long time and I'm really looking forward to playing in the Hong Kong Open again and playing good golf again."–Alex Jenkins HKGOLFER.COM