Singapore's Mardan Mamat fired his fourth successive sub-70 round to win the 60,000-dollar Mercedes-Benz Masters Singapore on Saturday.
The 41-year-old shot a three-under-par 69 at Laguna National Golf and Country Club to record his maiden title on the Mercedes-Benz Tour and a three-stroke victory over Thailand's Varut Chomchalam.
Varut returned a 66, while a stroke further back were defending champion Pariya Junhasavasdikul and Indonesia's Rory Hie.
Mamat started the day with a two-shot lead over Hie and despite dropping a shot on the first he stormed away from the chasing pack with birdies on three, six, 11 and 14.
"It feels great to win. I was up against some really good young players like Rory, Varut and Pariya so this is an excellent result which has given me more confidence for the rest of the season," said Mamat.
The Singaporean finished with a four-round total of 14-under-par 274 and earned a cheque for 9,750 US dollars.
"Obviously I know the course very well so that is a big advantage and my ball striking was really good and so I am delighted about that," added Mamat, who won the Singapore Masters on this course in 2006.
Varut carded the best round of the day thanks to a brilliant back nine of five-under-par 31.
"It was one of my best ever rounds but Mardan was just too far ahead," said Varut.
It is the second time the young Thai golfer has finished runner-up on the Mercedes-Benz Tour. He was runner-up in Malaysia last year and is clearly a player to watch in the future.
Pariya closed with a 68, while Hie carded a 71. First-round leader Lam, who had a four-shot lead in this event last year before being caught by Pariya, finished outright fifth after coming in with a 71.
The next event on the Mercedes-Benz Tour, which this year features nine events, is the Singha Pattaya Open from April 2 to 5.
Leading final round scores:
274 Mardan Mamat (SIN) 69 69 67 69
277 Varut Chomchalam (THA) 69 73 69 66
278 Pariya Junhasavasdikul (THA) 71 70 69 68, Rory Hie (IDN) 70 72 65 71
279 Lam Chih Bing (SIN) 67 72 69 71
281 Wisut Artjanawat (THA) 71 71 71 68
283 Tanatchan Puaktes (THA) 72 71 70 70, S Siva Chandran (MAS) 69 72 70 72,
Rey Pagunsan (PHL) 68 73 69 73
285 R Nachimuthu (MAS) 74 71 70 70
Saturday, March 14, 2009
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