Swede wins inaugural Indonesia Masters
Swede wins inaugural Indonesia Masters
Musthofid, The Jakarta Post, Bogor, West Java
Stephen Atako-Lindskog of Sweden put on a shaky finishing
touch to his campaign at the inaugural Rp 380 million (US$35,700)
Indonesia Masters at the Riverside Golf & Country Club on
Thursday, but he still managed to scrape through to the
championship title.
The Swede, who has been carrying out his pro career in
Indonesia for almost five years, booked a seven-under 281 on the
final standings and was entitled to a pre-tax Rp 62.5 million
share of the cash prizes.
He also pocketed Rp 20 million cash bonus for besting the six-
under benchmark.
Maan Nasim was one stroke behind for second place. Apart from
the cash prize, which is half that of the champion's, Maan was
awarded the first "Master of Indonesia".
It was his second runner-up position following the Epson Cup
at the Jagorawi early last month.
The Indonesia Masters is the first tournament in 10 years to
be held by the PGPI, the country's pro-golf governing body whose
incumbent chief, Yapto Suryosumarto, was elected only last month.
Atako-Lindskog put his win down to his dedication in training
and said that he just deserved it. He admitted, though, that he
had not been too bothered with a win going into the tournament.
"When I came here I didn't think about a win. The only thing
for sure was that I wanted to push my body to the limit," he said
after the presentation of prizes.
Following in third place with a five-under 283 was Sukamdi.
The finale of the four-day competition saw an ignominious play
by Buari, who crashed to 82 strokes, sending him cruelly from
second overnight to seventh.
Atako-Lindskog too was not immune from an erratic performance,
which resulted in him straying to a two-over 74.
"I'm a bit off in the timing," he said. "I felt like I was
awkward in movement," he added.
He conceded two bogeys and a double bogey against a single
birdie for a three-over at the first turn.
He then looked to be headed for an even worse result when he
was penalized on hole 12, which cost him two strokes. Up to that
stage, he was trailing against Maan by one stroke.
"I cleared the ground before I put the marker. But I did not
realize that it was against the rules until the referee
approached me to call it a fault," he said.
"I accepted it because that's something we must abide by," he
added.
He did not let the incident affect his play, steadying himself
in the next stages with an eagle on hole 15 to turn in a one-
under 34.
Indonesia's number one pro, Maan, fared better than the
champion with an even-par score. Still he failed to overturn the
deficit against the champion.