PEKAN: Seasoned campaigner Nicholas Fung ended a five-year title drought by capturing the PGM Pahang Championships today. It came with a winner’s cheque for RM21,000.
The 32-year-old overturned a three-shot deficit in the final round with a closing four-under 68 at the Royal Pekan Golf Club to win by two shots from overnight leader Ervin Chang and Sukree Othman on 11-under 205 winning total.
Nicholas started strongly by birdieing the second, fourth and seventh holes to seize the outright lead from rookie pro Ervin before picking further shots on holes 11 and 13 to stretch his advantage to three shots.
Even a bogey at the last hole could not stop Nicholas from bagging his 17th PGM Tour title since the circuit started in 2011 as he underlined his status as the King of the PGM Tour.
This came as a relief for Nicholas following a dip in form over the last few years. He has not won a title since triumphing in the Asian Tour’s Queen’s Cup in Thailand.
“I was stuck at the 19th win for quite a while, so I’m really happy to reach the 20th title milestone although it took me five years to get here!” said the Sabahan.
The victory could not be more timely for Nicholas as he gets ready for the next Asian Tour stop, the Indonesian Open in Jakarta from Aug 4-7.
Ervin, who turned professional just last month, had to settle for second best with a 73, and was joined by veteran Sukree, who carded 70 to match his 208 total. Shahrifuddin Ariffin, the winner of last three legs, came in joint seventh on 215.
LEADING FINAL ROUND SCORES
205: Nicholas Fung 68-69-68;
207: Sukree Othman 70-67-70, Ervin Chang 68-66-73;
211: M. Sasidaran 73-71-67;
213: Adam Arif Madzri (am) 72-70-71;
214: Kemarol Baharin 71-67-76;
215: Shahriffuddin Ariffin 75-72-68, Kenneth Tobuse 77-69-69;
216: Paul San 70-70-76;
217: Nor Heikal Hadi 70-73-74.
