GolfPlus June 2018 Digital Edition (June 2018) | Page 22

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Ajeetesh Sandhu
Sanghyun Park
LEE Dongha
Nicholas Fung
A walk in the park for Park
orea’s Sanghyun Park renewed his love affair with the GS Caltex Maekyung Open Golf
Championship by winning the long-standing event again with a par at the third play-off
hole.
Park, who won the event in 2016, had to go the extra distance to lift his sixth professional
title after he carded an even-par-71 in the fi nal round to force his way into a play-off with
compatriots Yikeun Chang, Junggon Hwang and India’s Gaganjeet Bhullar.
Bhullar threatened to break the dominance of the Koreans at the GS Caltex Maekyung Open
Golf Championship but the odds were against him as the event has not welcomed a foreign
winner since 2004. Bhullar had earlier compiled a four-day total of one-under-par 283, was
however the fi rst player to bow out from the four-man play-off at the fi rst hole. He conceded
the hole after he knew his best effort could only be a bogey while the Koreans had easy par
putt chances. Hwang was next to fall out of contention after he carded a bogey while Park and
Chang birdied. Victory soon belonged to Park when Chang was left with an uphill task to sink
a 15-foot par putt which he missed while Park made no mistake of his from inside 10 feet at the
Namseoul Country Club.
Rattanon Wannasrichan
Y.E. Yang
CATLIN HOLDS ON FOR VICTORY
merican John Catlin won his maiden Asian Tour title
after carding a fi nal-round three-under-par 69 to win the
US$300,000 Asia-Pacifi c Classic.
The 27-year-old had a nervy start as he dropped two
shots on his opening nine holes. However, he recovered when
it mattered most, scoring birdies on holes 11, 13 and 14 before
holding on for his maiden Asian Tour victory on a 16-under-par
272 total at the St Andrews Golf Club in Henan, China. Catlin,
a two-time Asian Development Tour (ADT) who has earned his
Asian Tour card by fi nishing third on the ADT merit list, took
home a winner’s purse of US$54,000. He has risen from 44th
to 20th place on the Habitat for Humanity Standings. Thailand’s
Natipong Srithong (66) and Australia’s Adam Blyth (70) share
second place, two shots behind Catlin. Natipong shot six birdies
during his fl awless round, but it was a case of too little, too late.
Blyth rued his bogey at the 10th, which took away his momentum
in his chase for the title. The Asia Pacifi c Classic is the Asian
Tour’s second stop in China this season. The tournament is part
of the Asian Tour’s strategic partnership with the China Golf
Association where the goal is to grow and develop professional
golf in the region.
32 G o l f P l u s
JUNE
2018
Natipong Srithong of Thailand
John Catlin of the United States
Shohei Hasegawa of Japan