Chang Hintwa, Chinese Taipei: Thai teenager Rattanon Wanasrichan saved his best for last when he fired a seven-under-par 65 to win his first Asian Development Tour (ADT) title at the Taifong Open on Sunday.<\/p>\n
The 20-year-old shot eight birdies to return with a winning total of 12-under-par 276 to defeat a battling Casey O’Toole (66) of the United States and overnight leader Jordan Sherratt (71) of Australia by one shot at the Taifong Golf Club.<\/p>\n
Lu Wei-chih was the best placed local player after returning with a 67 to share fourth place alongside Thailand’s Natthapong Niyomchon, who shot a 72, at the US$160,000 ADT event.<\/p>\n
The baby-faced Rattanon, who was five shots back at the start of the day, got off to a hot start when he opened with three birdies. He added three more birdies in the middle of the round and sealed the deal with two closing birdies.<\/p>\n
“I told myself that if I can birdie the last hole then I can win. I managed to do that so I’m proud of myself. I was five shots back after round three so I didn’t think I can win. I just played my own game and I’m glad that I won.<\/p>\n
“After my hot start, I told myself that I have a chance to win. This is my best score this week and it is because I was hitting it very good with my irons and putter. My putting was key in today’s win,” smiled Rattanon, who dropped only one shot on hole 14.<\/p>\n
He is now aiming to win his first Asian Tour title after taking home a winner’s cheque of US$28,000 and becoming the fifth Thai player to win on the ADT this year. He is also the 12th first-time winner on the ADT in 2015.<\/p>\n
“Now that I’ve won my first title on the ADT, I want to try and win on the Asian Tour. That is my dream and goal this year,” said Rattanon.<\/p>\n
O’Toole continued his good run of form on the ADT after claiming his seventh top-10 result. He birdied four in his opening five holes and added three more birdies, including two on 17 and 18 to set the early clubhouse pace before Rattanon charged home to victory.<\/p>\n
The American held his head high despite missing out on a breakthrough win. “It feels good because I was five back heading into the final round. I’m happy with how I played. The second round hurt me but finishing it off with two birdies was nice and it kept me in contention today.<\/p>\n
“To start the second half of the season on the right foot is good. I played as well as I could. I just got outplayed but that’s okay,” said O’Toole, who moved to second place on the Order of Merit.<\/p>\n
Australia’s Sherratt missed a 10-foot birdie putt on the last hole to force a play-off and was disappointed not to win his career’s first title after leading for two days.<\/p>\n
“I was a bit nervous to start with. I three putted the first hole and that wasn’t the best. I played pretty well from there until I reached the 15th hole. I just hit a bad tee shot for bogey and three putted for another bogey on 16,” he explained.<\/p>\n
“It was a good week but disappointing to lead for so long and not win. I needed to make birdie on the 18 to force a play-off and to be honest, it wasn’t that hard of a putt to make but I just didn’t hit a very good putt. It is what it is.”<\/p>\n
Since it was inaugurated in 2010, the ADT has grown from five events in the first year to a record 21 tournaments in 2014. The ADT has announced a provisional 2015 schedule of a minimum 24 tournaments with several more to be announced in due course.<\/p>\n
The ADT will continue to reward the top-five finishers on the Order of Merit at the end of this season with Asian Tour cards for 2016.<\/p>\n
With the Olympic Games looming in 2016 where golf will be reintroduced as a medal sport, players in the region could earn their spots in Rio de Janeiro by earning Official World Golf Ranking points through the Asian Tour and ADT.<\/p>\n
For more information on the ADT, please visit www.asiandevelopmenttour.com<\/p>\n
Leading final round scores:<\/strong><\/p>\n 276 – Rattanon WANNASRICHAN (THA) 71 70 70 65<\/p>\n 277 – Casey O’TOOLE (USA) 66 74 71 66, Jordan SHERRATT (AUS) 68 67 71 71<\/p>\n 279 – LU Wei-chih (TWN) 69 69 74 67, Natthapong NIYOMCHON (THA) 69 69 69 72<\/p>\n 280 – LEE Chieh-po (TWN) 69 68 72 71<\/p>\n 281 – Panuwat MUENLEK (THA) 75 70 67 69, Khalin JOSHI (IND) 66 73 70 72, KAO Teng (TWN) 72 67 70 72<\/p>\n 282 – CHAN Shih-chang (TWN) 70 71 72 69, Arie Irawan (MAS) 74 71 67 70, Sejun YOON (USA) 69 70 73 70, Pijit PETCHKASEM (THA) 70 67 73 72, SUNG Mao-chang (TWN) 70 70 69 73<\/p>\n 283 – Danthai BOONMA (THA) 70 70 73 70, HSU Hao-sheng (TWN) 73 71 68 71<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Chang Hintwa, Chinese Taipei: Thai teenager Rattanon Wanasrichan saved his best for last when he fired a seven-under-par 65 to win his first Asian Development Tour (ADT) title at the Taifong Open on Sunday.<\/p>\n The 20-year-old shot eight birdies to return with a winning total of 12-under-par 276 to defeat a battling Casey O’Toole (66) of the United States and overnight leader Jordan Sherratt (71) of Australia by one shot at the Taifong Golf Club.<\/p>\n Lu Wei-chih was the best placed local player after returning with a 67 to share fourth place alongside Thailand’s Natthapong Niyomchon, who shot a 72, at the US$160,000 ADT event.<\/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-22592","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-world-golf-news"],"yoast_head":"\n