December 4, 2022 – Jakarta: Thailand’s Sarit Suwannarut brought the Asian Tour season to a memorable conclusion today after an emphatic four-stroke victory in the US$1.5 million BNI Indonesian Masters presented by TNE.
The 24-year-old fired a closing four-under-par 68 for a four-round
aggregate of 20 under at Royale Jakarta Golf Club to claim his first Asian Tour
title, while Indian Anirban Lahiri, the winner in 2014, finished in second
place after carding a 66.
Chinese-Taipei’s Chan Shih-chang and Northern Ireland’s Graeme McDowell returned 69s to tie for third, five behind the winner.
American Sihwan Kim wrapped up the Asian Tour Order of Merit (OOM)
title after finishing in a tie for 28th. At the same time, Scott Vincent from
Zimbabwe secured the International Series OOM by finishing in equal 10th
position.
The weather, which had caused numerous delays since Thursday, had a
final say today when lightning stopped play at 1.09pm, with Sarit having two
holes left to play and a comfortable five-shot lead. Play resumed at 2.30pm,
with the rising Thai star able to par his way home.
“I think I almost cried coming down the 18th,” said Sarit.
“I just can’t put into words how I feel. I am just happy. I didn’t
feel the pressure that much; I was just enjoying my game. I have just enjoyed
the whole week.
“I worked with my coach last week, and we discovered something with
the set-up. I wasn’t hitting it good for the Pro Am and the first round, but we
looked at the video and decided to squat more and get my chin up a little bit,
just small things that made a really big impact.”
Delays caused by bad weather over the first three days meant Sarit
had to complete the final four holes of his third round early this morning,
following a 6.45am restart.
He parred 15, 16, and 17 before holing a testing 12-footer for a
birdie on the 18th to lead on 16 under by three from countryman Kosuke
Hamamoto.
And he was never threatened in the final round, making the turn in
three under with a birdie on six and an eagle on nine before more birdies on 12
and 15. His only dropped shot came on 16 before the badly timed weather delay
added more pressure to the closing stages.
He added: “It’s been a really tough year. I had COVID at the start
of the year, later I couldn’t get a visa for Korea, and I was battling to keep
my card at one point. I am so happy.”
While Lahiri could not win this event for a second time, he was more than happy with his week’s work.
He said: “It was a really good week. I think I finally got into some
rhythm, you know, just coming off not playing much golf. I think I was
surprised on Thursday that I played the way I did. And then the next two rounds
were more like what I was expecting, but I think as I played more and more, I
started getting into a good rhythm.
“Just a few kinks in my game; I worked on my putting yesterday after
the delay. I was really happy with the way I started swinging it, much better,
more like what I like to see from my game.”
Chan was also pleased with his final Asian Tour event of the year,
during a season which saw him win twice.
“Today was good, but I think on some holes I should have made
birdies; I feel like if today was more lucky, I could have been more under par.
I kept trying to get a low score until the last end. This year has been very
good, a perfect year, it’s been very nice.
“I won in Thailand and in Taiwan; I’m so happy to win in Taiwan. I’m
confident on the golf course now, so when I came this week, I just wanted to
try to improve my ranking and this week was very nice.”
England’s Lee Westwood, a three-time champion here, closed with a 71
to finish in outright ninth place.
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