Thammanoon defeats Laycock to take third Omega Tour title

KARACHI, Pakistan (Agencies): Thailand's Thammanoon Sriroj defeated Australia's Scott Laycock yesterday on the second extra hole of a sudden-death play-off to win the Omega Tour's US$200,000 ABN-AMRO Pakistan Masters at Karachi Golf Club.

Two down with one hole to play, the 28-year-old Thai drew level at 14 under par with an eight foot birdie on the 18th, after Laycock had missed a six foot putt for the title. And after both players had parred the first extra hole, Thammanoon secured his third Omega Tour title when Laycock was forced to take a drop after driving into a cactus bush on the right of the fairway.

Thammanoon fired five birdies and two bogeys for a three under 69, while Laycock toured the 6,932-yard layout with two birdies and a bogey for a one under 71.

"I thought my chances of winning had disappeared when I missed an eagle putt on the 14th, and even coming down the 18th fairway for the first time I thought I was going to have to hole out with my second shot to force a play-off," said Thammanoon, winner of the 1996 Singha Thai Prasit Bangkok Open and the 1996 Tugu Pratama Indonesian PGA.

"This is definitely the most satisfying of my three victories on the Omega Tour, not only because I thought I was out of it with a few holes left to play, but also because I played some very good golf throughout the week."

Two down at the start of the day, Thammanoon immediately went three behind after a Laycock birdie on the first, and found himself four down when he bogeyed the second. But the unorthodox Thai clawed his way back into contention with birdies at the third, sixth and ninth to start the back nine two behind.

Another bogey from Thammanoon at the 13th increased the deficit to three, but the Thai immediately pulled one back on the par five 14th after his six foot eagle chance had drifted just wide.

And despite hitting his tee-shot right of the fairway on the final hole, Thammanoon fired a blind six iron to within eight feet to set up his dramatic play-off victory.

It was a cruel blow for Laycock, who had dropped only two shots all week prior to his bogey at the last hole of regulation play. The 26-year-old also showed great character on the first extra hole when he fired his third shot from 160 yards to within a foot of the pin after a wayward tee shot.

"My downfall today was not making enough birdies on the back nine, especially when I had good chances on the 15th and 17th," said Laycock, who also led going into the final day of the 1996 Alfred Dunhill Masters before being overhauled by Bernhard Langer and Kang Wook-soon of Korea.

"I didn't drop a shot from the 7th hole on the first day when I had a double bogey and the bogey I made on the 72nd hole. But if you don't make as many birdies as your rivals then I suppose you don't deserve to win."

Former European Tour regular Peter Fowler of Australia fired a final round 70 to share third place with compatriot John Senden on nine under par, while South Africa's Wayne Bradley returned a four under par 68 to tie for fifth place with Prayad Marksaeng a further shot behind.

Results: 274 - Thammanoon Sriroj (Tha) 67-70-68-69, Scott Laycock (Aus) 68-65-70-71 (Thammanoon wins on second hole of playoff) 279 - Peter Fowler (Aus) 69-66-74-70, John Senden (Aus) 69-68-70-72 280 - Wayne Bradley (Rsa) 72-72-68-68, Prayad Marksaeng (Tha) 67- 70-68-75 281 - Jim Rutledge (Can) 71-70-72-68, Nico Van Rensburg (Rsa) 67- 68-73-73 283 - Mardan Mamat (Sin) 69-73-70-71, Taimur Hussain (Pak) 69-74- 69-71, Arjun Singh (Ind) 68-72-71-72 284 - Jyoti Randhawa (Ind) 70-69-72-73 285 - Craig Kamps (Rsa) 73-71-70-71, Paul Foley (Aus) 72-72-69- 72, Kim Holden (Kor) 73-69-69-74 286 - Choi Kyung-ju (Kor) 76-69-74-67, Ramon Brobio (Phi) 71-68- 77-70, Suppacheep Meesom (Tha) 70-74-72-70, Gaurav Ghei (Ind) 71-75-69-71, Vivek Bhandari (Ind) 70-74-71-71, Jun Tae-hyun (Kor) 74-68-71-73, Lee Petters (UAE) 72-71-69-74