Mamat ambles to title
When Mardan Mamat missed a six-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole yesterday, he could still afford to smile because he had by then taken an all-but-unassailable lead. The smile got bigger a while later once he tucked in from within a feet with the final shot of the day to rapturous applause of some two-thousand crowd who had gathered at the Kurmitola Golf Club for the climax of the Bashundhara Bangladesh Open.
Mamat got soaked in cold water, danced to the theme music of the event and then held aloft the gold-coated trophy designed after the Bengal Tiger. This was the 48-year-old Singaporean's fifth Asian Tour title and fourth in which he led right from the first round.
Mamat's 69 in the fourth round -- his highest in four rounds -- took his tally to 14-under (270), with young Korean Soomin Lee and India's Khalin Joshi finishing two strokes behind. But things could have gone a lot closer had the chasing pack managed to up the ante a bit earlier than they did. Joshi was the closest to Mamat at the end of the front nine after birdieing on the 9th hole following a bogey on the previous one.
Carlos Pigem of Spain and Janne Kaske of Finland, both of whom stayed in contention till the third round, had bogeyed quite a few holes to fall too far behind. Kaske fired two birdies while Pigem fired two birdies and an eagle on the back nine just to close the gap. Mamat, who wasn't having a birdie spree like the previous three days, successfully managed keep his bogey count to just one against three birdies to make sure he grabbed the winner's trophy and a paycheque of 54,000 dollars.
“It is always great to be a winner. I'm the first Bashundhara Bangladesh Open winner so I have to give credit to myself for winning,” said an elated Mamat at the trophy presentation ceremony.
While Mamat was basking in glory, it was a disappointing end to the home tournament for the six Bangladesh golfers who had managed to make the cut. Shakhawat Hossain Sohel was the best among the locals as he finished joint 19th at two-under (282), for which he received the best 'Bangladeshi pro award'. Dil Mohammad won the best amateur award after finishing tied 38th at four-over (288). Bangladesh's premier golfer Siddikur Rahman finished on the same score alongside Dulal Hossain, who slipped from overnight seventh position after a terrible nine-over in the final round.
SELECTED SCORES
1 Mardan Mamat (SIN) -14 (270)
2 Soomin Lee (KOR) -12 (272)
2 Khalin Joshi (IND) -12 (272)
4 Carlos Pigem (SPA) -11 (273)
19 Shakhawat Sohel (BAN) -2 (282)
38 Dil Mohammad A* (BAN) +4 (288)
38 Siddikur Rahman (BAN) +4 (288)
38 Dulal Hossain (BAN) +4 (288)
63 Sajib Ali (BAN) +8 (292)
68 Nur Jamal (BAN) +12 (296)
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