Australia’s Ryan Bulloch cruised to a comfortable wire-to-wire victory at the PGM Terengganu Masters for his first Asian Development Tour (ADT) title on Thursday.
Bulloch closed with a one-under-par 70 to win by two shots at the RM220,000 (approximately US$70,000) event, which was the fourth leg of this season’s ADT.
A fast charging Lindsay Renolds of Canada and Malaysian S. Murthy, who returned with a 66 and 67 respectively, settled for tied second place at the Awana Kijal Golf Beach and Spa Resort.
Derek McKenzie of Scotland, who was one-stroke off the lead after the penultimate round, failed to spark a title charge as he posted a 74 to finish in fourth place.
Bulloch was delighted to complete his transition from a greenskeeper in Perth to ADT champion courtesy of a superb opening round 64 which gave him the lead which he held on to throughout the week
“It is kind of surreal at the moment. The week has been pretty intense, having shot a low number in the first round. It has been enjoyable and exciting. I stuck to my game plan and the putter really helped me out,” said Bulloch, who posted a winning total of 11-under-par 273 and earned US$12,183.
With his closest competitor McKenzie failing to make a charge, Bulloch had a relatively comfortable day and needed only a single birdie on the par four 13th hole to steer him to victory.
“I wasn’t so much as playing it safe. I just hit a lot of fairways and greens and had a lot of two putts. I tried to take trouble out of play and sort of kept my nose in front,” said the Australian.
“I felt pretty good today. I thought a lot about my family and my wife and that kept me relaxed. I felt fantastic really. I’m glad the hard work I’ve been putting in the last six months paid off,” he added.
The Asian Development Tour will travel to the inaugural Taman Dayu Championship in Surabaya, Indonesia next week from July 4 to 7 (Wednesday to Saturday). A record total of 12 events will be played this season with the top three finishers on the Order of Merit earning Asian Tour cards for 2013.
Leading fourth round scores
273 – Ryan BULLOCH (AUS) 64-71-68-70
275 – Lindsay RENOLDS (CAN) 73-70-66-66, S. Murthy (MAS) 71-71-66-67
278 – Derek MCKENZIE (SCO) 69-66-69-74
279 – YANG Fei-hao (TPE) 71-70-69-69, Shakhawat SOHEL (BAN) 67-72-69-71
280 – Shaaban HUSSIN (MAS) 70-72-73-65, Zurie HARUN (MAS) 68-70-73-69, R. Nachimuthu (MAS) 76-68-66-70
281 – Nicholas FUNG (MAS) 69-71-73-68, Grant JACKSON (ENG) 67-74-70-70, Gavin FLINT (AUS) 67-73-70-71
282 – Chris HARTAS (AUS) 69-70-74-69, KIM Gi-whan (KOR) 70-70-68-74, Rashid ISMAIL (MAS) 73-69-66-74
283 – Daniel OWEN (ENG) 72-72-69-70, HSIEH Chi-hsien (TPE) 73-68-71-71
284 – Rizal AMIN (MAS) 69-74-72-69, Ernie HILL (USA) 72-71-73-68
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