Rodrigo Cuello wins Omega PGA Championship

By Bobby Allan Wilson

HONG KONG (Agencies): Filipino Rodrigo Cuello recorded his second big win in Hong Kong in the space of a year after winning the US$500,000 Omega PGA Championship at Clearwater Bay Golf and Country Club.

The 37-year-old won by a stroke from Taiwan's Lu Wen-teh in what is the final strokeplay event of the season on Asian PGA's Omega Tour and was able to add the title to the Hong Kong Open which he won in December last year.

Cuello fired a four-under-par 66 to finish with a four-round- aggregate of 10-under-par 270, while Lu closed with a 67.

Korea's Park No-seok claimed third place after returning a 69 while overnight leader Kenny Walker of Scotland and South African Craig Kamps finished fourth with rounds of 73 and 68 respectively.

Cuello was playing in the second from last group and started the day four strokes behind Walker.

"I didn't think about what any of the other players were doing, and I never looked at the leaderboards," said Cuello, who only realized he was in the lead when one of the Omega Tour's Filipino referees 'Toots' Aquino told him after he had putted out on 18. "I kept focusing on hitting the fairways and greens. I made very few mistakes."

Cuello's focused approach saw him fire six birdies and two bogies. His birdie on the 15th proved to be the most decisive as it took him to ten under and three strokes clear of Lu and Park.

Lu, playing in front, rallied with birdies on the last two holes but Cuello drawing on the experience he gained in last year's Hong Kong Open calmly came home with three pars.

"I don't know why Hong Kong has been so good to me. I like it here but I think I am just lucky," added Cuello, who won $80,750 for first place.

Walker who had played so steadily for the first three rounds succumbed to the pressure on the final day. "I was very nervous. I am not really used to such pressure," said Walker. "Choi and I had terrible final rounds."

Choi was a stroke behind Walker after three rounds but crashed to a 79 and placed joint 26th.

Despite the fact that he missed the cut this week American Mike Cunning took the Omega Order of Merit crown.

His total of $170,619 from the 17 events he played in saw him win the merit crown from Thailand's Prayad Markseang, who also missed the cut this week. Prayad finished the year on $123,805.

Lu's second place in the Omega PGA Championship, worth $55,650, resulted in him claiming third place on the list with earnings of $114,716.

Victory for Cuello has given him a berth in next week's season-ending $250,000 Volvo Asian Matchplay Championships. The in-form Filipino will be one of the favorites to win as the tournament is being played in the Philippines at Mimosa Golf and Country Club from Dec. 17 to 20.

Results: 270 - Rodrigo Cuello (Phi) 70 69 65 66 271 - Lu Wen-teh (Tpe) 64 71 69 67 273 - Park No-seok (Kor) 64 72 68 69 274 - Craig Kamps (Rsa) 67 71 68 68, Kenny Walker (Sco) 68 67 66 73 275 - Brad Andrews (Aus) 72 67 72 64, Jim Rutledge (Can) 70 68 69 68, Zaw Moe (Mya) 66 69 69 71 276 - Zhang Lian-Wei (Chn) 71 71 68 66, Leith Wastle (Aus) 64 74 71 67, Lai Ying-juh (Tpe) 67 71 70 68, Arjun Atwal (Ind) 70 70 68 68 277 - Dominique Boulet (Hkg) 66 69 74 68, Cheng Jun (Chn) 72 69 67 69, Jyoti Randhawa (Ind) 68 69 68 72, Chris Williams (Gbr) 68 71 66 72 278 - Kim Jong-duck (Kor) 68 74 67 69, Chen Liang-hsi (Tpe) 66 72 70 70 279 - Toru Kinoshita (Jpn) 70 72 70 67, Christian Pena (USA) 72 70 68 69, Ted Purdy (USA) 67 72 70 70, Takeshi Ohyama (Jpn) 70 71 67 71, Choi Gwang-soo (Kor) (66 71 69 73 280 - Kim Young-il (Kor) 71 69 70 70, Chang Tse-peng (Tpe) 70 71 64 75 281 - Nico Van Rensburg (Rsa) 73 68 68 72, Aaron Meeks (USA) 71 68 70 72, Hendrik Buhrmann (Rsa) 68 72 68 73, Dino Kwek (Sin) 66 69 72 74, Gerry Norquist (USA) 71 68 67 75