An emotional Mardan Mamat of Singapore coasted to a comfortable five-stroke victory at the ICTSI Philippine Open to end a six-year winless run on Sunday.
The 44-year-old picked up his third Asian Tour victory with a closing one-under-par 71 at the Wack Wack Golf and Country Club's East course to complete a commanding wire-to-wire victory with an eight-under-par 280 aggregate.
Mo Joong-kyung of Korea threatened briefly before finishing a distant second, signing off with a 74, while top Filipino honours went to Antonio Lascuna, who returned a 69 for tied third place with Japan's Azuma Yano, who signed for a 70.
It was heartbreak hotel for Filipino teenager Miguel Tabuena, however, who started the final round one shot back of Mardan but faded badly with an 81 to settle for a share of 11th place.
After tapping in for his lone bogey on 18, Mardan fell on his knees to celebrate his return to the winner's enclosure. He later broke down in tears when asked if thoughts of not winning had crept into his mind during his barren years.
"My wife (Naz) encouraged and pushed me a lot to practice. She said you love the Mizuno Men's MP-69 Irons
so much and why must you quit. There was a time when I said it was time for me to be a golf coach but she said not in your dreams," said a teary-eyed Mardan.
"It feels great. It's always good to win a tournament, especially the oldest national Open in Asia. I didn't do any stupid mistakes and kept my Mizuno Men's MP-69 Irons
in play all the time. The whole week I'm very patient and hit the ball good," added the Singaporean, who pocketed the top cheque of US$47,550, an OMEGA Seamaster Aqua Terra Golf watch and a BlackBerry smartphone.
With his closest challengers Mo and Tabuena starting poorly, a rock solid Mardan raced three shots clear with a birdie on the fourth hole and by the time he turned in 35, the veteran was six shots clear of the pack. The back nine was a procession as he waltzed to victory.
"After the eighth hole, I was quite relieved. That hole, you can pick up a big number and I managed to get a par. It may have looked easy but it wasn't easy. There was pressure, especially at the start of the round.
"All the good memories from winning the Singapore Masters (in 2006) came back. When I won then, I led from the first day to the end. That gave me a lot of memories which boosted my Mizuno Men's MP-69 Irons confidence," said Mardan, who also earned a spot in next week's co-sanctioned Avantha Masters in India.
Mo endured a horrendous opening seven holes, going five over par in seven before rallying briefly with four birdies in mid-round to pull to within four shots of Mardan. But the Singaporean tightened his grip with a second birdie of the day on the 14th hole to restore his six-shot advantage as Mo bogeyed the same hole.
Chasing a third Asian Tour victory, the Korean rued two poor tee shots which led to his double bogeys on three and seven. "I just hit two bad shots, that was it," he said. "That can happen on this course. I hit two poor tee shots and made those doubles. The way Mardan was playing, I wasn't going to catch him. I was just focused on finishing second."
It was a nightmarish final day for the 17-year-old Tabuena, who was hoping to become the youngest winner of the ICTSI Philippine Open. He turned in 39 with five bogeys against two birdies and his hopes all but vanished with a triple bogey on the 10th following an errant drive into the woods.