KARACHI: Tirawat Kaewsiribandit proved on Sunday that the age-old adage ‘slow and steady wins the race’ still holds.

The Thai ended up with the UMA-CNS Asian Tour Open Golf Championship title by just doing just that. He stayed consistent and let others go for it.

What it did, though, was that it produced a fitting climax to the first Asian Tour tournament in the country after 11 years.

It all came down to the very end. The final hole. The final shot. It was a question of who would hold his nerve better. Or who would wilt first.

Tirawat, who started the final-round three strokes off the lead, did the former. His compatriot Namchok Tantipokhakul, the overnight leader with a one-shot lead, did the latter to finish tied with another Thai Jakraphan Premsirigorn, who began the day in second place, as the runner-up.

“I never thought about winning the tournament till the last putt,” Tirawat told reporters. “Anything could’ve happened and there could’ve been a playoff.”

There would’ve been a playoff had Namchok not missed a regulation birdie putt on the 18th hole at the Karachi Golf Club. Less than three feet away, Namchok’s attempt stopped just short.

And it gave Tirawat, who shot a bogey-free 69 for a 12-under 276 total, a victory by the narrowest of margins. Namchok’s 73 and Jakraphan’s 72 saw them finish a shot behind.

Tirawat’s was the perfect ambush. He slunk away while Namchok and Jakraphan were battling it out.

“I was feeling the pressure going into the final few holes as the leader,” he said. “I said that I was aiming to win the tournament and I’m glad to have done exactly that.”

A shot adrift of Namchok and Jakraphan was Pakistan’s Mohammad Munir who fired a superb 67 on a day of thrills and spills.

Having started the day six strokes off the lead, Munir raised hopes of becoming the first Pakistani winner of an Asian Tour tournament on home soil when he hit four successive birdies on the turn but a bogey on the 15th impeded his progress.

“I went for it,” Munir told Dawn. “I was fancying my chances really. I was putting and driving well. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to pull it off. But that’s golf and it happens. In the back of your mind, you’d always be thinking that if you played that shot better, it would’ve been a different outcome but nevertheless I’m very happy with my performance.”

A trio of golfers finished on 280 including Pakistan’s Matloob Ahmed and China’s Liu Yanwei, who both fired six birdies each in their 68 and 67 respectively. Alongside them was Suradit Yongcharoenchai, who at world no. 546th was the highest-ranked golfer at the event and flattered to deceive with an unspectacular final-round 71.

A further stroke adrift was a quartet that included Indian Gaurav Pratap Singh (67), American Paul Harris (69), James Ryan Lam of the Philippines (70) and Thailand’s Settee Prakongvech (71).

Pakistan’s top-ranked golfer Mohammad Shabbir finished on 282 after firing a 70. Tied with him were two-time Asian Tour winner Siddikur Rahman of Bangladesh (71) and Englishman Matt Killed (70).

Another local golfer Mohammad Naeem shot a 72 to finish level with Irishman Niall Turner (67) on 283.

FLUCTUATING FORTUNES

On a day when the lead changed hands rapidly and where fortunes fluctuated even more rapidly, Jakraphanmade a fast start and Namchok’s overnight advantage was gone at the second hole where the former birdied.

Namchok regained the lead on the third hole with a birdie, one he would lose at the very next hole with a bogey. He led again after the fifth hole after Jakraphan’s bogey. It was that intense a contest.

But the turning point for Namchok came on the sixth hole. Landing in the rough from tee, the right-hander changed his stance to find the fairway. He then three-putted for a double bogey.

“It was a crucial point in the game and it put me under pressure,” Namchok told Dawn. “I was thinking of just finding the green and then putting but I think I hit it with more speed. After that I had to play catch-up.”

Tirawat had missed a birdie putt on the sixth but he made his move on the eighth where a birdie saw him pull level with Jakraphan atop the leaderboard. It was anyone’s game to win now.

Tirawat and Jakraphan remained neck-and-neck. Both birdied the 11th hole but two holes later the wheels came off Jakraphan’s challenge with a double bogey.

Finding the water from the tee, Jakraphan’s next shot saw him find the hazard on the other side.

“It was the point where my game went off,” he told Dawn. “The lie was a little bit of a problem there. There was a bit of pressure too. I’ve played that hole well in the last three rounds but today I couldn’t negotiate it.”

Namchok took full advantage of Jakraphan’s slip. He birdied that hole to move within a shot of Tirawat.

Ahead of them, Munir had also moved within contention. But while a bogey on the 15th left Munir with a lot to do, Jakraphan birdied the 16th to enliven the race to the finish.

Namchok missed a birdie putt on 17th, meaning Tirawat’s advantage remained and set up a dramatic final hole.

Jakraphan lost his grip on the driver from the tee, seeing the ball land horribly wide of the fairway. It put him out of the equation even though he salvaged a par by first finding the sand trap just before the green and then putting with two shots after that.

Namchok landed close to the pin with his second shot while Tirawat landed wide of the green.

With his third shot Tirawat landed close to the cup. All he needed now was Namchok to miss the birdie putt. Namchok missed and all Tirawat had to do was not miss his putt for par.

Having held his nerve all day, Tirawat didn’t flinch. Slow and steady, he won the race.

Published in Dawn, October 15th, 2018