Chang Hwa, Chinese Taipei: Local sensation Chan Shih-chang survived a five-way play-off to win an unprecedented fourth Asian Development Tour (ADT) title at the US$160,000 Taifong Open on Sunday.<\/p>\n
The 28-year-old Chan was the last man standing against overnight leader Hsieh Tung-shu of Chinese Taipei, Sung Mao-chang of Chinese Taipei, Thailand\u2019s Suppakorn Uthaipat and Miguel Tabuena of the Philippines after they tied on four-under-par 212 in regulation play at the Taifong Golf Club.<\/p>\n
The decisive play-off, which was played on the 18th hole, saw Sung, Suppakorn and Tabuena bow out in the first extra hole after making par while Chan and Hsieh birdied.<\/p>\n
The duo then went the extra distance before Chan sealed the deal with a five-foot eagle putt on the fourth extra hole to defeat Hsieh, who birdied the same hole. They had earlier birdied the second and third play-off holes.<\/p>\n
Chan, who won his first career title at the Taifong Open when it was a local event in 2010, overcame a seven-shot deficit with a flawless five-under-par 67 to win the richest ADT tournament in 2014. He earned US$28,000 to extend his lead on the ADT Order of Merit to US$56,816 and received six Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) points.<\/p>\n
Chan, who wore his lucky polka-dotted shirt in the final round of the Taifong Open, was ecstatic with his third ADT victory which will likely cement his position inside the top-five on the Order of Merit and earn him a Tour card for 2015.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was still asking my caddie if I should wear my lucky shirt this morning as I was quite far off the lead but I\u2019m glad I did,\u201d Chan laughed.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was quite confident that I could eagle the last play-off hole. Coming from seven-shots back, I thought I\u2019ve already done my best. The aim was to keep the trophy on home soil and I\u2019m glad that I did it,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Having won three titles on the ADT and two on the local circuit so far this year, Chan admits that he felt the pressure of doing well on home soil.<\/p>\n
\u201cHonestly, it was quite stressful for me in the first two rounds. I was really hoping for an ADT win on home ground and this is a course where I\u2019ve won before. I didn\u2019t do as well in the first two rounds so I thought I should just take it easy in the final round. I\u2019m glad I played better today,\u201d said Chan.<\/p>\n
Thailand\u2019s Suppakorn Uthaipat, who traded six birdies against two bogeys, praised his playing partner Chan for his victory.<\/p>\n
\u201cChan played very well. I felt very motivated to play well because of him. I\u2019m very happy with my round. It doesn\u2019t matter if I win or not. Hopefully I can continue the good form in the next tournament,\u201d said the 24-year-old, who had notched two top-10s on the ADT so far this season.<\/p>\n
The Taifong Open, which is the richest event on the Asian Development Tour to date, had earlier been reduced to 54-holes because of the adverse weather conditions caused by Typhoon Matmo on Wednesday. The tournament was rescheduled to start on Friday and was a three-day tournament.<\/p>\n
This season, the ADT will reward the top five players on the final Order of Merit with playing rights for the 2015 Asian Tour season. Previously, only the top-three players were offered Asian Tour cards.<\/p>\n
For more information on the ADT, please visit www.asiandevelopmenttour.com.<\/p>\n
Leading third and final round scores:<\/strong><\/p>\n 212 \u2013 CHAN Shih-chang (TPE) 73-72-67, Suppakorn UTHAIPAT (THA) 71-73-68, SUNG Mao-chang (TPE) 73-68-71, Miguel TABUENA (PHI) 70-71-71, HSIEH Tung-shu (TPE) 72-66-74<\/p>\n 213 \u2013 WANG Tsung-chieh (TPE) 72-73-68, CHOO Tze Huang (SIN) 68-72-73<\/p>\n 214 \u2013 Wasin SRIPATTRANUSORN (THA) 74-72-68, LEE Chieh-po (A) (TPE) 70-74-70, Jay BAYRON (PHI) 73-69-72, Rattanon WANNASRICHAN (THA) 71-70-73, LIN Wen-tang (TPE) 75-66-73, Piya SWANGARUNPORN (THA) 71-69-74, Pijit PETCHKASEM (THA) 72-68-74<\/p>\n 215 \u2013 HUNG Chun-kang (TPE) 75-70-70, Lindsay RENOLDS (CAN) 75-69-71, Jake STIRLING (AUS) 76-68-71, Masaru TAKAHASHI (JPN) 73-70-72, Nils FLOREN (SWE) 71-72-72, YE Jian-feng (CHN) 72-70-73.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Chang Hwa, Chinese Taipei: Local sensation Chan Shih-chang survived a five-way play-off to win an unprecedented fourth Asian Development Tour (ADT) title at the US$160,000 Taifong Open on Sunday.<\/p>\n The 28-year-old Chan was the last man standing against overnight leader Hsieh Tung-shu of Chinese Taipei, Sung Mao-chang of Chinese Taipei, Thailand\u2019s Suppakorn Uthaipat and Miguel Tabuena of the Philippines after they tied on four-under-par 212 in regulation play at the Taifong Golf Club.<\/p>\n The decisive play-off, which was played on the 18th hole, saw Sung, Suppakorn and Tabuena bow out in the first extra hole after making par while Chan and Hsieh birdied.<\/p>\n The duo then went the extra distance before Chan sealed the deal with a five-foot eagle putt on the fourth extra hole to defeat Hsieh, who birdied the same hole. They had earlier birdied the second and third play-off holes.<\/p>\n Chan, who won his first career title at the Taifong Open when it was a local event in 2010, overcame a seven-shot deficit with a flawless five-under-par 67 to win the richest ADT tournament in 2014. He earned US$28,000 to extend his lead on the ADT Order of Merit to US$56,816 and received six Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) points.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20324","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-world-golf-news"],"yoast_head":"\n