Prayad wins Lexus golf title by a shot
By Bobby Allan Wilson
BANGKOK (JP): Thailand's rising star Prayad Marksaeng secured his second victory on the 1997 Omega Tour yesterday with a two foot birdie putt on the final hole of the US$200,000 Lexus International at Bangpoo Country Club.
Prayad fired seven birdies and a solitary bogey for a six under par 66 and an 18 under winning aggregate, and collected the $32,300 winner's cheque one shot ahead of India's Arjun Atwal, who toured the 7,048-yard layout with a five under 67.
Myanmar's Kyi Hla Han sank a 12 foot birdie putt at the last for a share of third place on 14 under with Scotland's Kenny Walker, who's chances of finishing alone in third disappeared when he pushed a four foot birdie effort on the 18th just wide.
It was a superb performance from both Prayad and Atwal on a day when the lead changed hands no fewer than four times, before the Thai ace made sure of victory on the final green.
"My putting was the key today, and when I went two up at the 6th I was very confident of winning," said 31-year-old Prayad. Having started the round as joint overnight leaders, both players wasted little time getting into their stride, a pair of birdies at the first moving them to 13 under par and putting some daylight between them and the rest of the field.
By the seventh, however, Prayad was two up and memories returned of Atwal's final round in the Asia Pacific Ericsson Masters when he threw away a two shot lead before finally finishing joint fifth. But the 24-year-old Indian responded in magnificent fashion with an eagle 3 on the 7th, and another birdie on the 9th, to start the back nine one ahead of his Thai rival.
Prayad drew level at the very next hole before taking the outright lead with a three foot birdie on the 13th. A two shot turn around on the 15th, when Atwal made birdie to Prayad's bogey, saw the Indian move ahead once again, before Prayad made it all square with a six foot birdie on 16 to set up the thrilling finish.
"I had a good chance to take the lead on the 17th but I missed a birdie putt from five feet," said Atwal, who moves into 21st place on the Order of Merit.
Prayad's win moves him into second place on the Omega Order of Merit with US$118,436 in prize money, while America's Mike Cunning consolidated his position at the top on US$141,849 after finishing fifth today.
"I've still got a chance of catching Mike (Cunning) on the Omega Order of Merit, but a lot will depend on whether I play the Hong Kong Open in two weeks time," added Prayad. "This win gives me extra satisfaction because Thailand has now won more events on the Omega Tour than any other country."
In three years of the Asian PGA's Omega Tour Thailand has won 11 Omega Tour titles to America's 10.
Selected results 270 - Prayad Marksaeng (Tha) 70 69 65 66 271 - Arjun Atwal (Ind) 67 69 68 67 274 - Kyi Hla Han (Myn) 67 67 73 67, Kenny Walker(Sco) 66 68 73
67) 276 - Mike Cunning (USA) 69 65 71 71 277 - Greg Hanrahan (USA) 68 71 70 68, Vivek Bhandari (Ind) 67
70 71 69 278 - Chawalit Plaphol (Tha) 64 70 73 71 279 - Simon Yates (Sco) 69 71 68 71 280 - Park Nam-sin (Kor) 70 72 71 67, Shaifubari Muda (Mas) 71
70 68 71, Lai Ying-Juh (Twn) 71 68 70 71 281 - Lu Wen-Teh (Twn) 69 67 71 74 282 - Yasuhiro Taguchi (Jpn) 72 70 71 69, Rodrigo Cuello (Phi)
71 74 68 69, Hsu Mong-Nan (Twn) 72 69 68 73 283 - Jyoti Randhawa (Ind) 75 71 71 66, Yeh Wei-Tze (Twn) 71 73
70 69, Chang Tse-Peng (Twn) 71 72 69 71 284 - Lee Yong-Hee (Kor) 69 75 72 68, Nozomi Kawahara (Jpn) 75
70 70 69, Gavin Vearing (Aus) 68 73 71 72, Eric Meeks
(USA) 70 67 74 73, Craig Kamps (Rsa) 71 70 69 74 285 - Marciano Pucay (Phi) 73 66 78 68, Christian Pena (USA) 70
71 73 71, Jeff Senior (Aus) 71 73 68 73, Toru Kinoshita
(Jpn) 69 71 71 74 286 - Preecha Senaprom (Tha) 72 74 74 66, Rangsan Raksomchit
(Tha) 69 76 70 71