Golf: Lam does the 'impossible'

Three down with five to go.

An impossible task it looked.

Especially what they "chased" was a golfer of Koh Dengshan's calibre on his home Palm course at Raffles Country Club.

The overnight leader by one at the Boustead Golf Open seemed home and hosed on the final day.

But, when you have a "chaser" like the battle-hardened Lam Chih Bing, nothing can be taken for granted.

Lam, who had worked on his mental game the past month, showed the benefits of those sessions when he strung four birdies in a row against Koh's two pars and two bogeys to lead by two going into the difficult par-four 18th.

And when Koh sank a 15-footer for birdie on the final hole, it was still not enough as Lam played an easy bogey to win the event, the sixth in the SPGA series, by one shot on 11-under 205 with a 69.

"I didn't give up. And two holes, proved to be Koh's downfall as he missed a four-footer for a birdie on the 15th and drove his tee-shot into the water on the 16th to shift the balance to me," said Lam.

"Maybe I was a little lucky, sinking those putts for birdies from the 14th to the 17th.

"But I seemed to have found my rhythm lately, and I hope to take this victory and my good form into next week's Asian Tour event in Taiwan."

For his great effort, Lam, who trailed Koh by one on the first two days, was rewarded with a cheque for $3,720.

It takes the third-ranked Singaporean to the top (overtaking Quincy Quek) of the local Money List with $8,670.

Koh, who shot a 71, said: "I applaud Chih Bing for his superb effort. Going into the 18th, I had not given up as anything can happen in golf.

"I played a great birdie, but it was still not enough against a bogey by Lam, who was a deserving champion."

Koh moves to third on the Money List with $5,290 and is buoyed by his second-placed showing and last week's joint-eight spot in Manila for next week's Asian Development Tour event in Sarawak.

Alan Chang (224) won the Seniors' event by two shots from former Singapore representative Dino Kwek, both recording 76s.

FINAL SCORES

Professionals: 205: Lam Chih Bing 66-70-69. 206: Koh Dengshan 65-70-71. 213: Unho Park 68-70-75. 215: Lam Zhiqun 72-72-71. 218: Mitchell Slorach 79-69-70. 219: Vincent Khua 73-69-77. 220: Tim Stewart 77-71-72. 221: Justin Han 73-71-77. 224: Zaw Moe 81-72-71. 225: Poh Eng Wah 78-73-74. 226: Marc Kawasoe 76-77-73.

Seniors: 224: Alan Chang 75-73-76. 226: Dino Kwek 75-75-76. 231: Bill Fung 80-75-76.

Amateurs: 223: Samarth Dwivedi 79-71-73. 248: Roni Daryanto 81-80-87. 256: Abiel Franz Lim 86-83-87.

godfrey@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on Sep 5, 2014.
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