ASIAN TOUR | THAILAND GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP
Sergio Ends Year in Style Garcia triumphs at Amata Spring to claim first win of the season in fine fashion against a stellar field.
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Courtesy of Fast Track
paniard Sergio Garcia claimed a sensational four-shot victory at the Thailand Golf Championship in mid-December, thanks to a final round of four-under-par 68 which gave him a first victory of 2013.
The Ryder Cup star, who held a four-shot advantage heading into the final round, held off world number three Henrik Stenson of Sweden, who also signed for a 68 in the US$1 million Asian Tour event at Amata Spring Country Club.
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Clockwise from top: to the winner goes the spoils; Henrik Stenson continued his marvellous form to push Sergio Garcia all the way; Justin Rose, the US Open champion, started brightly but faded over the closing round
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After safely hitting the floating island green on the par-3 signature 17th hole and finding the fairway on 18, it was only then that Garcia could enjoy the victory march up the final green. Frenchman Alexander Levy carded a 69 to finish third while India’s Anirban Lahiri emerged as the joint best Asian performer by sharing fourth place with Japan’s Yuki Kono, last year’s winner Charl Schwartzel of South Africa and world number four Justin Rose of England. Chapchai Nirat was the highest placed Thai golfer in a tie for eighth. In a year which has seen him post 10 top-10s around the world, Garcia, who rose to 10th in the world after picking up 38 world ranking points, produced some of his best golf to break his duck in front of massive galleries at the magnificent Amata Spring. Stenson, winner of the European Tour’s Race to Dubai and PGA Tour’s FedExCup this season, trimmed the overnight lead by half at the turn but Garcia shifted into fifth gear with three successive birdies from the 10th hole to eventually cruise home comfortably and pick up his 21st tour victory and fourth on the Asian Tour with his 22-under-par 266 winning aggregate. “It was great, an amazing week … obviously being the last week of the year and for having HKGOLFER.COM
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Rose failed to mount a title charge, missing some early opportunities to eventually settle for a share of fourth position to conclude a season which saw him winning a first major trophy at the US Open at Merion in June.
Courtesy of Fast Track
Katharina [Boehm] caddie for me,” said the 33-year-old, who had his girlfriend on caddying duty here. “I knew Henrik was going to make it difficult for me. He’s been playing so amazingly great, and he did. He kept hitting good shot after good shot. And then when I bogeyed seven, I had to make a good par save on nine after getting a bit unlucky with the approach shot. And then I made three very important birdies on the first three on the back nine and gave myself a little bit of a cushion,” added Garcia, who finished fourth here last year. After safely hitting the floating island green on the par-3 signature 17th hole and finding the fairway on 18, it was only then that Garcia could enjoy the victory march up the final green. “I pretty much knew that finishing par, par, the tournament was pretty much mine, and then just making sure I kept the tee shot dry on 18 and 74
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I hit a great second shot with a 6-iron, and once the ball came out of the clubface, I knew that I was pretty much done,” said Garcia, who pocketed US$180,000 for the win. Stenson, who had been enjoying dinners with Garcia throughout the week in Bangkok, lamented missed opportunities on eight and nine which would have drawn him level with the Spaniard. “I’ve had a great year but coming here really on the fumes left in the tank, not too much going for me to perform in that sense. But I played really nicely yesterday and I was hanging in there today and I was just coming up a couple short,” said the Swede, who has won three times since August. “I needed something really, really good to happen on eight and nine but I didn’t make those two birdie putts and Sergio was hanging in there, made one or two good saves and then he made HKGOLFER.COM
Clockwise from top: top chefs Thonghai Jaidee, Hunter Mahan, Charl Schwartzel and Bubba Watson take part in a pre-event cooking competition; Opposite: Garcia in action; France’s Alexander Levy placed third
three birdies in a row, and pulled away. Congratulations to Sergio on a great week. He played really well.” Playing in the last group with Garcia and Stenson, Lahiri got off to a bright start with a birdie on two but failed to build on any momentum with bogeys on eight and 14 leaving him in a share of fourth place. “It was a disappointing round. I don’t think I was as focused as I needed to be on the greens. I missed a lot of putts, especially on the back nine. I couldn’t get any momentum. Any time I hit a good shot, I would miss the putt. It was probably my worst round of golf in three tournaments, so not a great time but still happy with the way I played this week,” said the Indian. Rose failed to mount a title charge, missing some early opportunities to eventually settle for a share of fourth position to conclude a season which saw him winning a first major trophy at the US Open at Merion in June. “It was like yesterday, hit it to four foot on the first hole and missed it, and then drove it in the bunker at the second. So, momentum was difficult, and the weather [the heat] was very tough. But, I’ve enjoyed my week and I’m happy to put the clubs down for a few weeks but I thought it was a really fun tournament. It’s been an amazing year,” said the Englishman. HKGOLFER.COM
Thailand Golf Championship – Final Standings 1
Sergio Garcia
ESP
68 65 65 68
266
US$180,000
2
Henrik Stenson
SWE
70 67 65 68
270
US$110,000
3
Alexander Levy
FRA
70 65 70 69
274
US$63,000
4=
Charl Schwartzel
RSA
68 73 67 67
275
US$38,200
Yuki Kono
JPN
72 69 65 69
275
US$38,200
Justin Rose
ENG
65 68 70 72
275
US$38,200
Anirban Lahiri
IND
71 64 67 73
275
US$38,200
8=
Chapchai Nirat
THA
72 69 67 69
277
US$22,950
Rickie Fowler
USA
70 66 71 70
277
US$22,950
10= Thongchai Jaidee
THA
71 71 68 68
278
US$17,600
Marcus Fraser
AUS
69 73 67 69
278
US$17,600
Gaganjeet Bhullar
IND
66 73 69 70
278
US$17,600
13= Hunter Mahan
USA
71 72 68 68
279
US$14,800
THA
74 68 65 72
279
US$14,800
KOR
72 71 68 69
280
US$13,250
Chinnarat Phadungsil
15= Baek Seuk-hyun
Ryo Ishikawa
JPN
74 68 68 70
280
US$13,250
Berry Henson
USA
72 71 66 71
280
US$13,250
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