Sergio Garcia of Spain put on a masterful display of golf as he carded a three-under-par 68 to romp to a dominant five-shot victory at the US$1 million SMBC Singapore Open on Sunday.

 

 

The 2017 Masters Tournament champion built his one-shot lead at the start of round four into a five-shot advantage after nine holes on Sentosa Golf Club’s Serapong course.

 

 

 

 

Garcia’s day got off to a great start as he birdied the first hole. He went on to score two more in quick succession before the turn, on holes seven and eight. The Spaniard switched to cruise control for the remainder of the round, carding nine consecutive pars to close with a total of 14-under-par 270.

 

 

A final-round 71 earned Satoshi Kodaira of Japan a share of second place. The six-time Japan Golf Tour winner played a roller-coaster round, highlighted by the fact that he only had eight pars out of the 18 holes.

 

 

Shaun Norris of South Africa had a round of two halves. He dropped two shots in his front nine, but he rallied and made three birdies on the back nine to card a 70 as well as to grab a share of second place.

 

 

Jazz Janewattananond of Thailand gave himself an outside chance of winning the tournament after carding 68 and 66 in rounds two and three respectively. The 22-year-old could not sustain his mid-tournament form and closed with a 71. He finished tied-fourth and earned a spot at this year’s Open Championship.

 

 

The SMBC Singapore Open is part of The Open Qualifying Series.  Four players who finish inside the top-12 and ties, who are not already exempt, will earn places in the field at Carnoustie from July 19 to 22, 2018.

 

 

Compatriot Danthai Boonma also finished tied-fourth and he will join Jazz in Carnoustie after carding a 73. The 21-year-old sizzled in round three with a 65 to lead the tournament at the end of Saturday before play was suspended due to bad weather. However, he could not bring his momentum to round four.

 

 

Sean Crocker of the United States and Cameron Davis of Australia carded 69 and 70 respectively to finish in tied-fifth. With Davis already exempt, Crocker will take up the third Open Championship spot.

 

 

The final spot to The Open went to Lucas Herbert of Australia, who finished tied-eighth with Malaysia’s Gavin Green, Philippines’ Miguel Tabuena and United States’ Berry Henson.

 

 

Herbert got the nod because of his higher position on the Official World Golf Ranking. 2017 Asian Tour Order of Merit champion Green is already exempt.

 

Did you know:

• Sergio Garcia averaged 320 yards off the tee at the SMBC Singapore Open. His driving accuracy was 78.6 per cent and he hit 90.3 per cent of greens in regulation. Garcia’s putting average was 1.75 putts per hole.
• Garcia has only dropped three shots the entire tournament. He scored an eagle, 15 birdies and 53 pars.
• This is his fourth win on the Asian Tour. He won previously in Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia.
• Garcia married Angela Akins in late July last year and they are expecting a baby girl in March 2018.

 

Day 3: Thailand’s Booma and Nirat dominate the leaderboard at the Singapore Open 

Day 2: Thailand's Nirat cards a blistering seven-under-par 64 to grab lead at the Singapore Open

Day 1: Soon-to-be-father Sergio Garcia shoots 66 to share lead at the Singapore Open