Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: Kasidit Lepkurte kept his composure to close with a two-under-par 70 and win his first Asian Development Tour (ADT) title at the PGM MIDF Championship.
The 26-year-old Thai, who held a three-shot lead heading into the final round, traded three birdies against one bogey to win by three shots on 12-under-par 276 total at Templer Park Country Club.
Thai Pannakorn Uthaipas, who led the first two rounds, matched Kasidit’s closing 70 but had to settle for second place at the RM250,000 (about US$55,000) event.
Shariffuddin Ariffin emerged as the highest-placed Malaysian after marking his best round of the week, a 66. He shared third place with Thai Nattawat Suvajanakorn and South African Mathaim Keyser, who returned with matching 69s.
“I never really felt the pressure as, at the back of my mind, I knew I had a three-shot cushion at the start of the round,” said Kasidit. “But it was after the birdie on the ninth when I felt really confident about winning the tournament.”
Kasidit joined the play-for-pay ranks in 2015. “I kept it simple; just aiming for fairways and greens. I am really happy about the way I putted,” added Kasidit, who took home a cheque for US$10,339 and earned six Official World Golf Ranking points.
Despite missing out on a second ADT title, Pannakorn’s runner-up finish was enough to help him regain the lead on the Order of Merit as he added US$6,794 for a current haul of US$44,736.
He leads by over US$2,685 from Masaru Takahashi of Japan, who was not in the field this week.
The ADT now heads to Pakistan for the Defence Raya Golf Championship at the Defence Raya Golf and Country Club. It will be the ADT’s first tournament in the country since the circuit was inaugurated in 2010.