Hua Hin, Thailand: Australia’s Andrew Dodt staged a dramatic fight back with a closing five-under-par 67 to lift the inaugural True Thailand Classic presented by Black Mountain trophy on Sunday.<\/p>\n
Dodt’s winning total of 16-under-par 272 at the Black Mountain Golf Club left him speechless as his second victory on the region’s premier Tour finally ended a five-year title drought.<\/p>\n
Thailand’s Thongchai Jaidee’s double-bogey on 13 effectively ended all hopes of a local winner at the US$2 million Thai showpiece as he signed off with a 71 to share second place with overnight leader Scott Hend of Australia at the richest golf tournament in Thailand.<\/p>\n
Thailand’s Kiradech Aphibarnrat meanwhile bounced back from the disappointment of missing the cut in Malaysia to enjoy a tied-fourth finish alongside Canada’s Richard T. Lee and Jason Knutzon of the United States following a 274 total.<\/p>\n
After five years, Dodt completed his remarkable return to the winner’s circle with a performance that left him searching for words.<\/p>\n
“There are no thoughts at the moment. I’m speechless,” said the Australian, who started the day four shots back of Hend.<\/p>\n
But it was Dodt’s ability to stay patient that made all difference.<\/p>\n
After a hat-trick of birdies from his opening first hole, the 29-year-old parred his next eight holes before picking up further gains on 12 and 15 which effectively sealed his win.<\/p>\n
“Those three birdies really kept the momentum going and I hung on after that.<\/p>\n
“The winds picked up on the back-nine and it got pretty tricky towards the end and I tried to play as sensibly as I could. I’m glad I did it,” said Dodt.<\/p>\n
Thongchai delighted the home crowd when he surged in contention following birdies on the first and 12 holes.<\/p>\n
However a costly double-bogey on 13 pegged him back.<\/p>\n
“I made some mistakes with the club selection especially on 13. The pin positions were tough especially on the back-nine,” said Thongchai.<\/p>\n
The Thai had an eagle putt on the last to win, but he left it 10 feet short and missed the birdie attempt which would have forced a play-off with Dodt.<\/p>\n
“I tried my best. But it’s okay. Andrew was a deserving winner as he put up a great performance. I’ll try again the next time,” said Thongchai.<\/p>\n
Hend had an encouraging start after he birdied two of his opening four holes.<\/p>\n
But it went downhill after that as he bogeyed the seventh, 14th and 17th holes which eventually saw him close with a 72.<\/p>\n
“I pressed for the win on 17 and got a bit aggressive with my bunker shot, and I finished one shot behind. I came here to try to win.<\/p>\n
“All in all it was a good solid week and there are a lot of positives to take out of it. It’s good to see Dodty winning, fantastic. Obviously I wish it was me standing there winning, but congratulations to him,” said Hend.<\/p>\n
Leading scores after round 4 of the True Thailand Classic presented by Black Mountain being played at the par 72, 7359 Yards Black Mountain course (am – denotes amateur): Hua Hin, Thailand: Australia’s Andrew Dodt staged a dramatic fight back with a closing five-under-par 67 to lift the inaugural True Thailand Classic presented by Black Mountain trophy on Sunday.<\/p>\n Dodt’s winning total of 16-under-par 272 at the Black Mountain Golf Club left him speechless as his second victory on the region’s premier Tour finally ended a five-year title drought.<\/p>\n Thailand’s Thongchai Jaidee’s double-bogey on 13 effectively ended all hopes of a local winner at the US$2 million Thai showpiece as he signed off with a 71 to share second place with overnight leader Scott Hend of Australia at the richest golf tournament in Thailand.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21319","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-world-golf-news"],"yoast_head":"\n
<\/strong>
272 – Andrew DODT (AUS) 71-67-67-67.
273 – Thongchai JAIDEE (THA) 69-66-67-71, Scott HEND (AUS) 67-68-66-72.
274 – Richard T. LEE (CAN) 68-67-73-66, Jason KNUTZON (USA) 72-66-69-67, Kiradech APHIBARNRAT (THA) 67-67-70-70.
275 – Carlos PIGEM (ESP) 65-72-72-66, Johan CARLSSON (SWE) 69-67-70-69, Wade ORMSBY (AUS) 72-65-68-70, Miguel JIMENEZ (ESP) 67-66-69-73.
276 – John PARRY (ENG) 71-69-70-66, Sam BRAZEL (AUS) 69-69-71-67, Shiv KAPUR (IND) 66-73-69-68, Alex NOREN (SWE) 67-70-68-71.
277 – Anthony WALL (ENG) 72-68-70-67, Jeunghun WANG (KOR) 68-69-71-69, Jorge CAMPILLO (ESP) 73-68-66-70, Jyoti RANDHAWA (IND) 71-70-65-71, Javi COLOMO (ESP) 74-67-65-71, Richard GREEN (AUS) 71-67-67-72.
278 – Anirban LAHIRI (IND) 69-72-70-67, Pariya JUNHASAVASDIKUL (THA) 67-73-70-68, Nathan HOLMAN (AUS) 71-67-71-69, Berry HENSON (USA) 70-69-69-70.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"