NST Online: Sports
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| Golf / CIMB Asia Pacific Classic: Bo strikes gold at Mines Posted: 30 Oct 2011 05:14 PM PDT 2011/10/31 HAVING briefly given up golf, Bo Van Pelt is surely thanking his lucky stars he returned to the game after hitting his biggest payday when he romped to a six-stroke victory in the CIMB Asia Pacific Classic yesterday. Van Pelt, who held a slender one-shot lead over Jeff Overton after three rounds, had twice before blown 54-hole leads but he never looked like surrendering his advantage this time. Instead, the American sank seven birdies to return a seven-under 64, his second of the week at the Mines Resort and Golf Club, to claim the top prize of US$1.3 million (RM4 million) with a tournament record 23-under 261 total to eclipse Ben Crane's winning total of 266 last year.
"In college (Oklahoma State University), I was not playing very well and I quit the game, gave my clubs away and never thought I'd return to golf. "I was a sophomore about 20 or 21 at the time and I just didn't have it in my heart anymore. I just didn't want to put in the work and there was nobody going to tell me to practise.
"He said it was the best thing I ever did and I have to say he's probably right," said Van Pelt, who turned professional in 1998. Yesterday, Van Pelt was always a step ahead of Overton with the two Indiana golfers birdieing the third hole before the leader extended his lead to three when he birdied the next hole while his rival dropped a shot.
Five became six with another birdie on the 14th and Van Pelt matched Overton's birdies on the 15th and 17th to comfortably cruise home to pick up his trophy from Yang di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin. "I played well and I didn't make any bogeys. I tried to stick to my game plan all week. I had a chance to win a couple of times this year but I didn't come out on top. "I wanted to do a better job when I was having the lead and I took a lot of satisfaction with the way I played today," said Van Pelt, who was making his tournament debut. Van Pelt vowed to return next to defend his title, something he has never done after he was unable to defend his maiden win at the 2009 US Bank Championship when the tournament was scrapped. "It has been great. I didn't come last year and I heard everyone had a great time here. It is hard, having three small kids at home so during the off season I enjoy my time at home. "Luckily my wife and caddy talked me into coming this year and I wanted to come and do my best. We had a great time," added Van Pelt, who will put his winning prize money into a college fund for his children. Overton, the halfway leader, was in full praise of Van Pelt after going around in 69 for a 267 total, one shot ahead of Sweden's Fredrik Jacobson (68). "That was one of the best rounds of golf I've seen. I didn't play a great round, I played a solid round. I kind of had a couple of hiccups. He birdied some holes that I bogeyed and those were huge momentum shifters. "At the end of the day, the guy played one of the rounds of golf anybody has all year," said Overton, who remains winless on the PGA Tour after finishing runner-up for a fifth time. Cameron Trigale matched Van Pelt's 64 as he sank nine birdies against two bogeys to surge into a tie for fourth on 269 alongside fellow American Mark Wilson (69) and Colombian Camilo Villegas (66). SCORES FINAL ROUND 261 Bo Van Pelt 66-64-67-64 |
| Golf / CIMB Asia Pacific Classic: Above par performance Posted: 30 Oct 2011 05:10 PM PDT 2011/10/31  Danny Chia goes for the green in the final round of the CIMB Asia Pacific Classic at the Mines Resort yesterday. — Picture by Yazit Razali The 39-year-old Danny settled for a one-under 70 to end the week on 12-under 272 total, 11 shots behind the winner Bo Van Pelt, in a six-way tie for 13th. It was never Danny's intention to go for the jugular despite starting the day five strokes off the lead, rather to finish the day as well as he could.
"Whenever I go out, I only start to look at the leaderboard with three or four holes to finish to see where I stand. I did not want to challenge the leader as I wasn't hitting great. "It was probably one of the wisest moves of my career. I just wanted to play my own game and lots of times I try to play the percentages," said Danny, who went home with US$85,000 (RM260,000) for his four days of work at the Mines Resort and Golf Club.
"It's a big confindence booster, I've learnt so much about myself. I told myself it won't be easy out there today (yesterday). It was difficult to score, I accepted that. I had a couple of good days but today I didn't get lucky on the greens. "I think being patient is the key to doing well this week. Before, I was really aggressive on the tee box in trying to reach the green all the time.
Danny also revelled in the atmosphere of the home crowd and handled the pressure well having previously faltered under huge expectations. "It has been a great week. It's been fantastic playing with PGA Tour players, it's one of my dreams to play with them. "I felt the whole country behind me and it was not easy to perform to expectations but I felt I did not let them down," added Danny. While Danny had a tournament to remember, Shaaban Hussin had one to forget although he did avoid repeating his last-placed finish of last year. Shaaban, however, fell short of his top-20 aim after ending his round with a one-over 72 for a seven-over total of 291 for joint-45th with Argentina's Angel Cabrera. "I'm disappointed I didn't hit my goal but it is okay because I'm still learning. It would have been nice to finish in the top-20 but I learned a lot playing with PGA Tour players," said Shaaban, who earned US$42,500 for his effort. Full content generated by Get Full RSS. |
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