Taipei, Chinese Taipei: Kazuki Higa continued his imperious form on the Asian Tour, winning the US$1 million Yeangder TPC for his second title in two weeks following the 41st Shinhan Donghae Open in Korea, and moving to the top of the Order of Merit standings.

Higa, the highest-ranked player in the field at Linkou International Golf and Country Club this week, was solid throughout the four rounds and shot a bogey-free four-under-par 68 in the final round to finish with a 17-under total of 271 for a two-shot win.

Overnight leader, American Charles Porter (71), once again started with two birdies in his first four holes but managed to add just one more after that to fall into a tie for second place at 15-under 273 alongside Wang Wei-hsuan (67), the best-placed player from Chinese-Taipei, and Thailand’s Rattanon Wannasrichan (66).

Philippines’ Miguel Tabuena (66) and American Shotaro Ban (68) both birdied the final hole to finish joint fifth at 14-under. Indians Ajeetesh Sandhu and Viraj Madappa (both 68), rounded out the top-10 with Thailand’s Suteepat Prateeptienchai (70), Australian Travis Smyth (71) and local amateur Hsieh Cheng-wei (71).

Hsieh finished bogey-bogey, but the 17-year-old’s tied seventh place was another feather in his cap. It was by far the best showing by an amateur in the championship. The previous best was Wang’s tied 49th in 2017. Hsieh also holds the Asian Tour record of the youngest player to make the cut in 2022.

Higa, who won the BTI Open in Bangladesh on his debut on the Asian Development Tour (ADT) in 2018, caught up with Porter with a 20-foot birdie putt on the 11th, and could have gone ahead on the 14th, where he missed another birdie chance from three feet.

The tournament turned in Higa’s favour when he dropped a well-read 12-footer for birdie on the tough par-four 15th, while Porter wound up making a bogey from the same distance after getting into trouble with his tee shot.

Porter could have closed the gap on the 17th hole and would have fancied his chances on the long par-five 18th hole, but his birdie attempt from less than four feet grazed the hole and stayed above ground.

Tournament sponsors Yeangder are also Higa’s personal sponsor and he had said after Saturday’s round that winning the tournament would mean the world to him.

After his Sunday round, Higa said: “It’s a very good feeling, I just did something special.

“From the beginning of the season, my form has been very good. I’ve been in contention many times, but could not manage to get a win until five weeks ago in Japan. It was just some small things that I needed to get better. Like, the putting is getting better and there’s no more stress from the tee shots. It’s the reason we could get these wins.”

On his final round, the 30-year-old from Okinawa said: “On the front nine, I hit some good shots, hit some good putts, but they didn’t drop. The reads were just a little bit wrong and I needed to stay patient and not be too aggressive on the tee shots. The putts started to drop at a good time.”

Higa won the 2022 Order of Merit on the Japan Golf Tour, but despite taking the lead, he was not entertaining any thoughts of adding an Asian Tour crown to his CV.

“It’s the middle of the season, and there are many International Series events, the big events, coming up now. So, not thinking too much about this. Just keeping it in mind a little bit that we are in a good spot to have a chance and just try to play golf like I’ve been doing until now.”

Despite the disappointment, it was Porter’s best finish on the Asian Tour and elevated him to 32nd in the Order of Merit.

“I felt really out of rhythm off the tee, especially. I feel like in the future, finding a way to calm down and just swing like I know how to swing it will be beneficial,” said the six-foot nine-inch tall Porter.

“I’m just thinking about how I can learn for next time. In this game, you either win or you learn, and there’s a lot of learning. So, I will reflect on this and I will learn a ton.”