Thailand’s Pavit Tangkamolprasert clinched his second Asian Tour title at the Sabah Masters in nail-biting fashion, prevailing on the second hole of a sudden-death playoff at Sutera Harbour Golf & Country Club.
Pavit edged compatriot Phachara Khongwatmai and Australian David Gleeson with a superb chip-in birdie on the second extra hole. The 30-year-old Pavit, who lost play-off at the Thailand Open two weeks ago, redeemed himself by emerging victorious this time around in a four-way decider against Phachara, Gleeson and India’s Aman Raj.
Pavit marked his week’s best effort with a closing six-under-par 65 to force extra time with Phachara (67), Gleeson (68) and Raj (63) after the quartet ended regulation play with matching totals of 13-under-par 271s at the US$300,000 full-field Asian Tour event.
The first play-off hole, which was held on the par-four 18, saw Raj bow out with a bogey while the others made pars. The remaining trio found the center fairway on the second extra hole but their second shots were all short of the green.
It was Pavit who sealed the deal with his 15-yard chip-in birdie from the fringe while Phachara and Gleeson missed their chips to settle for pars.
“Since my first win in Macao in 2016, I have had some setbacks, battling with a wrist injury. But it’s all in the past now. In golf, you just got to keep trying. You don’t know when it will come so you need to keep trying,” said Pavit.
Gleeson, who hails from Queensland, was left to wait longer for his comeback victory after missing out on his fourth title and first since 2011. The 41-year-old had agonisingly missed a 12-footer on the last hole in regulation play to seal the victory.
“I think my game is better than it was back in the past. It’s more complete than back then. I played at a very high sort of emotional level back then. That’s what I have been working on, just to relax and enjoy the game,” said Gleeson.
Pravit’s victory was the second by a Thai player on Malaysian soil over the weekend, following Pannakorn Uthaipas who triumphed by three shots in the PGM MIDF ADT Championship at Kota Seriemas yesterday.
