Danthai makes his mark, keep his composure to hold off rivals down the stretch
Young gun Danthai Boonma won his maiden Thailand PGA Tour title following a two-stroke victory in the Bt3 million Singha SAT Championship at the Kabin Buri Sports Club in Prachinburi yesterday.
Kabin Buri Sports Club in Prachinburi yesterday.
The 20-year-old from Sukhothai, after posting two top 10 finishes in the two opening legs of the Thailand PGA Tour in Hua Hin and Surat Thani, produced a solid final round 71 for a 13-under-par total of 275 at the par-72 7,675-yard layout.
Danthai, who captured his only Asian Tour title at Singapore’s World Classic Championship last year, was neck-and-neck with Chapchai Nirat at 12-under after 13 holes. But Chapchai suffered back-to-back bogeys on the 14th and 15th holes while Danthai held onto to the lead heading into the final hole where he sank his first birdie of the day.
“I was never confident that I was going to win until I made that final birdie putt,” said Danthai. “Several guys were putting me under so much pressure out there. This is a good experience for me to be able to learn what to do under huge pressure.” He won Bt435,000.
Two strokes behind in lone second place was Namchok Tantipokhakul who produced a fantastic bogey-free 66 in the final round for a 11-under-par total of 277.
“As he [Danthai] was not shooting any score going into the back nine, I knew I could catch up with him and was finally two behind,” Namchok said. “I tried to hit a few more birdies but it didn’t work. But I’m happy to surge to the second place in the end.” Namchok, a winner on this course in 2009, took home Bt255,000.
Chapchai swapped three birdies with three bogeys for a final round 72 which saw him finish joint third at nine-under with Udorn Duangdecha and Raththee Sirithanakunsak, who both shot 70 yesterday.
