Spain’s David Puig wins first pro golf title at Tanah Merah
Singapore amateur Ryan Ang finishes with a sensational eagle on a hot and humid afternoon
ON A humid day with shifting winds and alternating scores, there was, as expected, one constant. The name on the top of the leaderboard, LIV Golf’s David Puig, remained unchanged from start to finish.
The 21-year-old Spaniard had done all the hard work on the previous three days at the International Series Singapore, and on Sunday (Oct 8) he settled for a one-over 73 for 19-under 269 that gave him a five-shot victory over South Korea’s Eom Jae-woong.
This was his first individual professional title, having won four times with his Torue GC team on the LIV Golf circuit this year.
The triumph earned him a cheque for S$360,000. The US$2 million event at Tanah Merah Country Club was the seventh stop on this year’s International Series schedule.
“It’s awesome. This is my first year as a professional, but I think I deserved a win probably two or three months before today,” said Puig.
“It’s the best feeling in the world. That’s why I practise so hard. I had a good opportunity to join LIV Golf right after college (at Arizona State University in the US). I took advantage of that and played pretty good this year.”
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He was third in the International Series in Morocco and tied-fourth in England in August.
Puig’s overnight nine-shot lead in Singapore was trimmed down by Eom with his 69 on Tanah Merah’s Tampines course. Eom tried his best to reduce the deficit with Puig, with birdies on holes six, eight and 12. However, he had a dropped shot on 15 and that made his task next to impossible.
“I actually had a lot of chances out there but it was just too hot outside,” said Eom. “I was feeling dizzy and that’s why I made a bogey on 15th. But I managed to hang in there and finish well with a birdie on the last to claim second place.”
Puig’s Mexican caddie Alberto Sanchez, who grabbed the flag on the final green as a souvenir, said: “We decided on a no-risk game plan, knowing that golfing history had shown that big leads can be squandered on the final day. Patience pays off.”
For many fans watching at the course, the result was a foregone conclusion even before Puig teed off at 9.46 am.
After an eagle, 20 birdies and two bogeys going into the final day, Puig managed just one birdie and rued two bogeys when there was little pressure because of his comfortable lead throughout.
Even after his winning putt, Puig showed little emotion, just raising his right fist to acknowledge the cheers from the crowd. He did offer a wide smile when his physiotherapist and others drenched him with beer at the final hole.
The fans, however, truly enjoyed the shifting positions from second to sixth, with Eom being chased by Andy Ogletree, Poom Saksansin, Taichi Kho, Tomoharu Otsuki and Berry Henson.
In the end, Ogletree (69) and Saksansin (68) finished joint-third on 276, and Otsuki (69) fifth on 277.
While fans kept their focus on the leaderboard, from out of the blue came a spark from Singapore’s amateur Ryan Ang, the only local among 16 players to make the cut.
The 24-year-old, a fourth-year accountancy student at the Singapore Management University, drew loud cheers with an eagle on his finishing hole to shoot a 68 for joint-23rd spot, totalling six-under 282.
On the par for 333-yard ninth hole, he used a 60-degree wedge to hole out from 71 yards with his second shot, the ball taking one bounce and spinning backwards into the hole.
Said Ang: “It was a great tournament for me, as good as the DP World Tour at Laguna National earlier this year when I made the cut in a very strong field.”
However, his celebrations were short-lived as he had to rush home to prepare for his examinations beginning on Tuesday.
Also pleased with his performance was Japan’s Jinichiro Kozuma, who bagged an ace on the 164-yard 16th hole with a nine-iron and won the keys to a brand-new BYD Seal electric car.
There was a second hole-in-one when International Series Order of Merit leader Ogletree holed out on the tough 230-yard fourth hole with a four-iron, But as it was not a designated hole, all he had were congratulatory handshakes.
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