Taipei, Taiwan: Five years after bursting onto the scene with five wins on the Big Easy Tour, South African Ian Snyman finally broke through on the global scene with a two-shot win in the US$500,000 Taiwan Glass Taifong Open – his maiden win on the Asian Tour in his 83rd career start.

The popular, soft-spoken 29-year-old made only three bogeys through the week to reach 15-under after Sunday’s round of three-under par 69. That was enough to deny Mexico’s Santiago De la Fuente (67) and Hong Kong’s Matthew Cheung (68), two players also searching for their first win on the Tour.

Chinese Taipei’s Chang Wei-lun (67) was the best-placed among local stars, tied fourth at 12-under, where he was joined by overnight joint leader, Filipino Lloyd Jefferson Go (72) and American Chase Koepka (71).

Thailand’s Suradit Yongcharoenchai (67) and Danthai Boonma (68) were tied seventh at 11-under, while American John Catlin improved to get into the top-10 with a 66, the best round of the day.

“This is crazy. Two months ago, I was thinking: ‘Will I ever win again?’ You work hard and you run out of ideas about what to do and what to change. And here I am today, and we have managed to do it,” said a relieved Snyman, who climbed to number three in the Asian Tour Order of Merit with the US$90,000 winning cheque.

“And it was just solid. I felt like there was very little amount of luck involved out there for me. This week, I managed to swing good, and the putting was good. I was just in a good mindset.

“Obviously, I was hoping not to wait for five years for my first win here but, to be honest with you, I haven’t had a lot of chances on the Asian Tour. I’ve had good weeks, but not weeks where I felt like I was in control. There were always some poor shots. But this week was just solid, solid, solid. I’m glad I won feeling good, because sometimes you feel good about your game and you still don’t win.”

There was a moment late into the round when things looked dicey for the Belville resident. Having made only two bogeys in the 68 holes, Snyman hit his tee shot way short on the long par-three 15th hole, and then compounded the error with a poor bunker shot that left him with a long putt for par. He left the first putt nearly 20 feet short and looked set for a debilitating double-bogey, before hitting a perfectly-read putt for a ‘crucial’ bogey.

At almost the same time, De la Fuente smashed a good-looking second shot on the par-five 17th, but it bounced and went into the bushes behind the green. The 2024 Latin American Amateur champion needed to take a penalty drop and made a bogey. He birdied the 18th to record his best finish on the Asian Tour, but the mistake on the 17th cost him dear.