Indonesia’s Rory Hie has dedicated his maiden Asian Tour victory at the Classic Golf & Country Club International Championship in India to his late friend and former tour player Arie Irawan of Malaysia.
The 31-year-old had led from start to finish to make history as the first Indonesian winner on the Asian Tour. With a 21-under-par 267 total, Hie finished two shots ahead of Korea’s Byungjun Kim and Rashid Khan of India at the Classic Golf and Country Club in Gurgaon.
Hie took home a winner’s purse of US$54,000 following his triumph in the US$300,000 full-field event, which was his 85th start on the Asian Tour. His victory came five months after the sudden passing of Arie, who was one of Malaysia’s and the region’s most promising talents. Arie, a two-time winner on the Asian Development Tour (ADT), passed away of apparent natural causes in China in April.
Arie Irawan (Photo by PGA TOUR Series-China / Zhuang Liu)
“I am sure my late friend Arie Irawan is proud of me right now,” said Hie. “I shared a room with him a couple of times before. We were always working on our swings and always trying to be the best that we can. We always look for every possible way to improve.”
“Unfortunately, he passed away earlier this year at a young age of 28. I still couldn’t believe what happened but I am sure he’s watching me from above and is very proud of me. I want to dedicate this win to Arie,” he added.
Hie notched his first ever top-10 finish on the Asian Tour when he last visited Classic Golf & Country Club 10 years ago. Little did he expect to win his first Asian Tour title in his return to the same venue last week … with the same local caddy on his bag!
“I actually dreamt about this winning moment years ago. I dreamt about walking down the 18th hole with a two or three shot lead. I can’t believe it happened. It’s pretty amazing that my caddy still remembers me.
“India’s one of my favourite places to go. I love the food and my roommate was laughing at me because I ordered the same food (chicken tandoori and garlic naan) for five nights in-a-row,” said Hie, who moved up to 37th place on the Order of Merit.
Thailand’s Jazz Janewattananond continues to lead the money list with US$761,613, more than US$230,000 ahead of Australia’s Scott Hend.
Top-10 players on the Habitat for Humanity Standings
1. Jazz JANEWATTANANOND (THA) $761,613.71
Jazz Janewattananond
2. Scott HEND (AUS) $528,160.94
3. Yosuke ASAJI (JPN) $285,181.86
4. Taehee LEE (KOR) $275,548.14
5. Masahiro KAWAMURA (JPN) $260,100.96
6. Zach MURRAY (AUS) $209,670.05
7. Micah Lauren SHIN (USA) $187,218.98
8. Johannes VEERMAN (USA) $177,288.30
9. Scott VINCENT (ZIM) $167,490.11
10. Yikeun CHANG (KOR) $166,861.47
