Malaysian golf legend Danny Chia showed that he is still a force to be reckoned with following a joint second finish in the Golf Shaper Challenge at Chikushiogaka Golf Club in Nakagawa City, Fukuoka.
Making his first competitive start of the year, Danny opened his campaign with an anonymous round of 74. The 48-year-old then made a massive jump up the leaderboard with subsequent scores of 69 and 66 in the 54-hole event, which is part of the Japan Golf Tour’s secondary circuit, the Abema TV Tour.
“The course is quite short, which is good for an old man like me! I hit a lot of irons and fairway woods off the tee,” said Danny.
“It was very windy and the greens were fast, but I putted really well … especially in the last round,” he added.
Sharing second place on seven-under-par with Daichi Sato and Yuichi Ohta, Danny picked up a cheque for ¥1,035,000 (approx. RM40,000). The ¥15,000,000 tournament was won by Ayumi Kawamitsu on nine-under-par.
Danny made history in 2010 when he became the first Malaysian to make the cut in a Major in the Open Championship at St Andrews, finishing T55 on two-over-par. He remains the only Malaysian to have won twice on the Asian Tour.