Thai Kiradech prevails in playoff to win in Shenzhen

The 19-year-old Chinese golfer signed off with a five-under-par 67 in his regular round to aggregate 12-under, hoping to be the first from his country to win an European Tour event on home soil.

Thai Kiradech prevails in playoff to win in Shenzhen

(Reuters)





Overnight leader Kiradech, however, had other ideas as the Thai, having dropped four bogeys by then, eagled the 17th to draw level before squandering a putt to win the tournament on the final hole.

Li failed to sink a much longer putt in the playoff on the same 18th hole while Kiradech birdied it before pumping his fist and roaring in celebration.

"Special thanks to my caddie, he was always pushing me," the 25-year-old Kiradech, whose only other European Tour victory came at the 2013 Malaysian Open, said.

"When we were two behind on the last two holes he said you have not lost, we have not signed the scorecard yet and he was completely right and I just got the job done.

"I had a chance to win in 72 holes but the putt in the play-off is the best putt I have ever made in my life."

Li sank six birdies in his strong round but it was not enough in the end.

"I made a lot of birdies again. But the Thai guy played so well. Congratulations for him," said the teenager.

Englishman Tommy Fleetwood threw himself in the title hunt but his third straight round of 69 left him on 11-under overall.

Spaniard Alvaro Quiros fired a nine-under-par 63 to reach eight-under overall while two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson finished tied 29th at five-under after signing off with a final round 65, his best round of the week.





(Reporting by Amlan Chakraborty in New Delhi; editing by Sudipto Ganguly)


Share

2 min read

Published

Source: Reuters


Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world