Malaysia’s Ervin Chang made a big move up the leaderboard on the closing day of the 10th Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship, carding a superb six-under-par 64 at Sentosa Golf Club’s New Tanjong Course.
The 20-year-old Chang nailed seven birdies against one bogey and made some excellent par saves to finish in seventh place on seven-under-par 273 (72-69-68-64), matching the best Malaysian performance in the prestigious championship set by Mohd Iszaimi Ismail in the inaugural event at China’s Mission Hills Golf Club.
Chang’s 64 was the low round of the day. In two previous appearances in 2014 and 2015, he failed to make the halfway cut.
“Overall I’m very happy with my performance this week. It’s a very strong field and I played well today. The first day wasn’t that good for me but I’m really happy that I was able to come back with a strong finish. I couldn’t make any putts in the first round but as the tournament went on, my putting and ball-striking got a lot better,” said Chang, a junior at Liberty University in Virginia.
“I was aiming for a top-five finish and my focus today was really good. I was actually struggling with my chipping and my ball-striking before I came in and I’m glad I was able to get that fixed before the tournament started,” he added.
Chang flies straight back to the United States tomorrow as he has some exams lined up.
Two other Malaysians, Bryan Teoh and Afif Razif, made the halfway cut. Teoh closed with 70 to finish T42 on five-over-par, while Afif unfortunately aggravated a recent back injury and had to pull out midway through the final round.
Japan’s Takumi Kanaya won the tournament with a closing 65 for a 13-under-par total, earning invitations to next year’s Masters Tournament at Augusta National and The 148th Open at Royal Portrush. Joint runners-up Rayhan Thomas of India and Keita Nakajima of Japan gained spots in The Open Qualifying Series.
For full scores go to www.aacgolf.com/scores
