American Trevor Simsby picked up his first Asian Tour title with a nail-biting playoff victory at the weather-shortened Bandar Malaysia Open at Kota Permai Golf and Country Club.
The 27-year-old Simsby, who played in the second last group, set the clubhouse target of 13-under-par before countryman Jarin Todd and overnight leader Andrew Dodt of Australia matched his efforts by carding rounds of 70 and 72 respectively in the US$1 million event.
Simsby, who earned his 2020 Asian Tour card after a commendable season on the Asian Development Tour (ADT) last year, opted for an aggressive style of play in his three trips down the 18th hole which paid off for him. He went for the green on the par-five, 565-yard hole but found himself in the right rough in regulation play. He then hit his third shot to the green and two-putted for par to sign for a closing two-under-par 70.
The sudden-death playoff at the 18th hole saw Todd bowing out after missing a 15-foot birdie putt while Dodt, who led the first two rounds, made his from eight feet and Simsby nailing his from three feet after hitting his lob-wedge from a tough angle.
Simsby and Dodt returned to the 18th tee for the second play-off hole and Simsby found the fairway again after opting to tee off with his driver instead of his three-wood which he used on the first extra hole. His aggressive play proved rewarding as his second shot landed just short of the green.
Dodt hit his tee shot to the left rough and had to lay up with an iron to the middle of the fairway before hitting his approach to 15 feet, leaving himself a tough putt for birdie. Simsby, on the other hand, chipped up to four feet and made the putt for the win after Dodt missed his putt.
Simsby was thrilled to claim his career biggest win yet in only his 12th start on the Asian Tour and first this season at the Malaysian showpiece.
“This is the biggest win I have had in my career so far. It’s just amazing where I am right now. I’m just ecstatic to win this,” said a visibly emotional Simsby, who hails from Carlsbad, California but bases himself in Kuala Lumpur when on tour.
Simsby is playing in only his second year in Asia. He came through the 2019 Qualifying School and plied his trade on both the Asian Tour and the ADT last season. He finished 84th on the Asian Tour Order of Merit but a seventh-place finish on the ADT Merit rankings last season saw him regain his tour card for 2020.
Simsby will take home a winner’s prize purse of US$180,000 courtesy of his win and move to second place on the latest Order of Merit, where Australian Wade Ormsby extended his lead following a top-10 finish.
Amir Nazrin (Photo by Masuti Ahmadi)
Korea’s Charlie Wi, former winner of the Malaysian Open in 2006, posted a 69 to share fourth place with Japan’s Rikuya Hoshino and Kosuke Hamamoto of Thailand on 204s.
Young guns Amir Nazrin and Shahriffuddin Ariffin emerged as the best Malaysian performers after registering identical 70s to tie in 38th place. The trophy for Best Malaysian Professional, provided by Kota Permai, went to the 22-year-old Amir on a countback.
“This is my first time playing in my own National Open. It’s been a good week. I love the course, the surroundings and the people. The weather hasn’t been great to us unfortunately but it’s still a great week,” said Amir, who won the local PGM Tour Order of Merit last year.
The Bandar Malaysia Open, which is sanctioned by the Asian Tour and in partnership with the Japan Golf Tour Organisation, was reduced to 54 holes by officials on Saturday following several weather delays which saw more than 10 hours of play lost throughout the week. The tournament is the flagship event for the Malaysian Golf Association (MGA). It returns to the Asian Tour schedule this week after a four-year hiatus.
