Corolla Cup champion Danny Chia
Veteran Danny Chia proved once again he is still a force to be reckoned with when he finished with a three-day aggregate of 12-under 204 for a comfortable four-stroke victory in the Corolla Cup that saw a dramatic final round at the Royal Perak Golf Club.
The 51-year-old, who was paired with local hero Shanizam Mohagi and Sukree Othman in the last group, carded a three-under 69 to add to his earlier rounds of 69 and 67. Danny had won the season opener Tun Ahmad Sarji Trophy at Saujana GCC in March.
Corolla Cup final round crowd
Amateur Marcus Lim who is pursuing his degree at the Sacred Heart University in Connecticut and is here for the summer holidays, finished alone in second place. He managed to avoid a three-way tie by birdieing the last hole for an eight-under 208. Fakhrul Akmal and amateur Rizq Adam Rohizam were joint third at 7-under 209.
Shanizam, the crowd favourite who started the day one stroke behind Danny, suffered bogeys on the fifth and sixth holes and his challenge took a nosedive when he returned a triple bogey on the Par 4 ninth. Sukree also suffered a triple on the ninth.
“Yes, I’m happy with my game,” said Danny who pocketed RM31,500. “It’s always great to win a tournament, but as always I’ll only know I’ve won after the last putt is holed.
Another veteran Airil Rizman finished alone in fifth place after carding a two-under 70 for a six-under 210 aggregate. Sukree, Shanizam, Ben Leong, Nicholas Fung and Kemarol Baharin ended up joint sixth three strokes adrift on 213.
Amateur Winnie Ng gets doused after winning the playoff
Amateur Winnie Ng celebrated a double victory after a tense play-off against Aretha Pan in the Ladies’ Championship. Both players, level after round two, carded identical 74s today to finish at even par 216.
At the first play-off on Hole 2, Aretha had the longer drive but Winnie stuck her approach shot to four feet. Aretha missed her birdie attempt from 15 feet while her opponent made no mistake with hers. By winning the Ladies title, it also ensured Winnie the Best Amateur award. Aretha however pocketed RM10,000 for finishing as the best professional.
A visibly overjoyed Winnie paid tribute to her brother Victor who carried her bag. “He missed the cut so he lived up to his promise to caddy for me. At the Vios Cup in Templer Park last month, I missed the cut and I had to caddy for him on the last day. It’s been a great tournament and I thank Toyota for providing us this platform.”
The Toyota Tour continues with the next leg at The Mines Resort from July 25-27.
Final leading Scores (Men)
204 Danny Chia (68-67-69)
208 Marcus Lim (am, 69-71-68)
209 Fakhrul Akmal (71-68-70), Rizq Adam Rohizam (am, 70-71-68)
210 Airil Rizman (69-71-70)
213 Sukree Othman (73-66-74), Nicholas Fung (73-70-70), Ben Leong (73-71-69), Kemarol Baharin (71-69, 73), Shanizam Mohagi (70-66-77)
214 S Siva Chandhran (66-76-72)
Ladies
216 Aretha Pan (73-69-74), Winnie Ng (am, 73-69-74). Winnie won on playoff
217 Jocelyn Chee (74-71-72)
218 Ng Jing Xuen (am, 73-71-74)
221 Geraldine Wong (72-76-73)
223 Nur Afifah Razif (am, 76-71-76)
228 Ainil Johani Bakar (79-73-76)
230 Allycia Gan (am, 74-78-78)
