Murakami second in Selangor golf

MANILA, Philippines - Artemio Murakami blew a three-shot lead with nine holes left as he settled for a 69 and a runner-up finish to American Jonathan Moore who fired a 67 to win by three in the PGM-ADT-CCM Impian Classic in Selangor, Malaysia yesterday.

Murakami sizzled with a 31 at the front to go three-up but drove out of bounds on the 10th for a double-bogey, enabling Moore to cruise to the win with a solid finish en route to a five-under card for a 72-hole total of 266 worth $11,666.

The Fil-Japanese shotmaker wound up with a 38 for a 269 aggregate and took home $7,666 (around P320,000) plus a dose of confidence for his title retention bid in this week’s Philippine Open at Wack Wack.

“The momentum changed when I hit it out of bounds. From there, I couldn’t get my tee shots onto the fairways and I had tough second shots. It was his day,” said Murakami.

Murakami actually flubbed an eight-foot birdie putt on No. 9 and said: “If that one had gone in, it could have been a bit different. But Jonathan played so good. I’m still happy as I managed to shoot a 69.

“I hope to keep my momentum going until next weekend. Everything has been working this week. I’m happy with my swing Chinese Taipei’s Chang Tse-peng finished third with a 270, four behind the winner, after a 66 while Ben Leong was Malaysia’s best finisher at joint fifth place on 274 after a 68 alongside co-overnight leader Himmat Rai of India, who faded with a 75.

Moore, a former US Walker Cup team member, came through with three straight birdies from No. 13 as he celebrated a first title in Asia.

“Artemio played phenomenal golf and I felt kind of bad seeing what happened to him. It was a lot closer than it was. I was trailing by quite a lot as he shot five under on the front nine. He played great. But some putts fell in for me at a crucial time,” said Moore.