Thailand’s Pavit Tangkamolprasert defeated compatriot Phachara Khongwatmai and Australian David Gleeson with an incredible chip-in birdie on the second play-off hole to clinch his second Asian Tour title in style at the Sabah Masters on Sunday.

 

 

 

 

 

The 30-year-old Pavit, who suffered a play-off defeat at the Thailand Open two weeks ago, redeemed himself by emerging victorious in a four-way play-off against Phachara, Gleeson and Aman Raj of India at the Sutera Harbour Golf and Country Club.

 

 

 

Pavit marked his week’s best efforts with a closing six-under-par 65 to force extra time with Phachara (67), Gleeson (68) and Raj (63) after the quartet ended regulation play with matching totals of 13-under-par 271s at the US$300,000 full-field Asian Tour event.

 

The first play-off hole, which was held on the par-four 18, saw Raj bow out with a bogey while the others made pars. The remaining trio found the center fairway on the second extra hole but their second shots were all short of the green.

 

 

 

 

 

It was Pavit who sealed the deal with his 15-yard chip-in birdie from the fringe while Phachara and Gleeson missed their chips to settle for pars. Pavit’s birdie on the 74th hole is only the second one recorded in the final round of the Sabah Masters.

 

 

The inaugural Sabah Masters is proudly supported by the Tourism Malaysia with an aim to boost tourism in Sabah.

 

Did you know?

 

• Pavit Tangkamolprasert marked his week’s lowest round with a closing 65. Starting the final round with a three-shot deficit, Pavit dropped a shot on his third hole but bounced back brilliantly with seven birdies on his way home to force the play-off.
• Pavit’s stats this week were very strong across the board, he led the field in birdies with 24, Driving Distance 316 yards (1st), Putts/GIR 1.591 (3rd),  Putts/Round 1.44 (5th), GIR 68.06% (T10th) , Driving Accuracy 85.71% (T10th).
• Pavit is a six-time champion on the Asian Development Tour (ADT), where he was crowned the Order of Merit champion in 2014. He shares the record of the most wins on the ADT with Chan Shih-chang of Chinese Taipei.
• He claimed his first Asian Tour victory at the 2016 Macao Open, also in a play-off where he defeated India’s Anirban Lahiri.
• He had also defeated Chinese Taipei’s Lin Wen-tang in a play-off at the 2016 Charming Yeandger ADT, which was his biggest victory yet on the region’s secondary circuit.
• Enjoyed his career-best season yet on the Asian Tour in 2016 where he finished 12th on the Order of Merit.
• Pavit lost in a playoff at the Thailand Open two weeks ago and had another top-10 on this year’s Asian Tour at the Bank BRI Indonesia Open where he finished tied-sixth.