Pagunsan clinches Bali Open crown

MANILA, Philippines - Juvic Pagunsan submitted a six-under-par 66 to cap an amazing show in the inaugural Bali Open golf championship, running away with an 11-stroke win over Ryder Cup veteran Jarmo Sandelin at the New Kuta Golf Resort in Bali, Indonesia yesterday.

Pagunsan pieced together nines of 33-33 in a strong final round giving him a closing aggregate of 15-under-par 273. The brilliant Filipino shotmaker had earlier rounds of 72-67-68.

“I played well, everything worked for me this week,” said Pagunsan, who earned $10,500. “I knew I needed to get ahead of Jarmo and waited for him to make mistakes. After the front nine, I was in total control.”

Leading by three after the third round, Pagunsan didn’t allow his rivals to put up a challenge, knocking down seven birdies against a bogey in the weekend finale.

“This win will be a good confidence booster as we have the Barclays Singapore Open and UBS Hong Kong Open coming up on the Asian Tour,” said Pagunsan.

Sandelin, a five-time winner on the European Tour, finished a distant second after a closing 74 for a total of 284 while Japan’s Masaki Sakata and Martin Rominger of Switzerland shared third place at 288.

“Juvic played fantastic golf. Looking back, my momentum was stopped when I made the mistake by lifting my ball on the 12th hole,” said Sandelin.

“I didn’t hole a putt all day, only one on 18. But I enjoyed my time in Bali and a second will always be a second no matter what the tournament it is. Hopefully I can build on this,” the Swede added.

At the close of the inaugural Asian Development Tour season, Malaysia’s Akhmal Tarmizee clung on to third place on the Order of Merit to join countryman S. Siva Chandhran and Chinese Taipei’s Hsu Chia-jen in outright entry to the tour next season.

Closest challengers T.J. Kim of Korea, Thailand’s Thanyakorn Khrongpha and Indonesian Rory Hie failed to produce the needed results to dislodge Akhmal, who missed the halfway cut Thursday.

“It’s a big relief,” said the Malaysian, who thought he had blown his chances after rounds of 75 and 82. “I was worried over the last two days as there were few players who could have caught me.

“Now that I’ve got my Asian Tour card, I’m going to work really hard on my game and prepare well for next season,” added Akhmal.