Veteran Danny Chia proved once again he is still a force to be reckoned with when he finished with a three-day aggregate of 12-under 204 for a comfortable four-stroke victory in the Corolla Cup that saw a dramatic final round at the Royal Perak Golf Club here today.
The 51-year-old, who was paired with local hero Shanizam Mohagi and Sukree Othman in the last group, carded a three-under 69 to add to his earlier rounds of 69 and 67. Chia had won the season opener Tun Ahmad Sarji Trophy at Saujana GCC in March.
Amateur Marcus Lim who is pursuing his degree at the Sacred Heart University in Connecticut and is here for the summer holidays, finished alone in second place. He managed to avoid a three-way tie by birdieing the last hole for an eight-under 208. Fakhrul Akmal and amateur Rizq Adam Rohizam were joint third at 7-under 209.
Shanizam, the crowd favourite who started the day one stroke behind Chia, suffered bogeys on the fifth and sixth holes and his challenge took a nosedive when he returned a triple bogey on the Par 4 ninth. Sukree also suffered a triple on the ninth.
“Yes, I’m happy with my game,” said Chia who pocketed RM31,500.
“It’s always great to win a tournament, but as always I’ll only know I’ve won after the last putt is holed”, he added.
Another veteran Airil Rizman finished alone in fifth place after carding a two-under 70 for a six-under 210 aggregate. Sukree, Shanizam, Ben Leong, Nicholas Fung and Kemarol Baharin ended up joint sixth three strokes adrift on 213.
The Corolla Cup is the fifth leg of the Toyota Tour presented by UMW Toyota Motor with MST Golf Group the Delivery Agency and managed by the Professional Golf Malaysia.
Amateur Winnie Ng celebrated a double victory after a tense play-off against Aretha Pan in the Ladies’ Championship. Both players, level after round two, carded identical 74s today to finish at even par 216.
At the first playoff on Hole 2, Pan had the longer drive but Ng stuck her approach shot to four feet. Pan missed her birdie attempt from 15 feet while her opponent made no mistake with hers. By winning the Ladies title, it also ensured Ng the Best Amateur award. Pan however pocketed RM10,000 for finishing as the best professional.
A visibly overjoyed Ng paid tribute to her brother Victor who carried her bag.
“He missed the cut so he lived up to his promise to caddy for me. At the Vios Cup in Templer Park last month, I missed the cut and I had to caddy for him on the last day. It’s been a great tournament and I thank Toyota for providing us this platform,” shared Ng.
The Toyota Tour continues with the next leg at The Mines Resort from July 25-27.
Final leading Scores
(Men)
204 Danny Chia (68-67-69)
208 Marcus Lim (am, 69-71-68)
209 Fakhrul Akmal (71-68-70), Rizq Adam Rohizam (am, 70-71-68)
210 Airil Rizman (69-71-70)
213 Sukree Othman (73-66-74), Nicholas Fung (73-70-70), Ben Leong (73-71-69), Kemarol Baharin (71-69, 73), Shanizam Mohagi (70-66-77)
214 S Siva Chandhran (66-76-72)
(Ladies)
216 Winnie Ng (A) (73-69-74). WON ON FIRST PLAYOFF HOLE, Aretha Pan (73-69-74)
217 Jocelyn Chee (74-71-72)
218 Ng Jing Xuen (am, 73-71-74)
221 Geraldine Wong (72-76-73)
223 Nur Afifah Razif (am, 76-71-76)
228 Ainil Johani Bakar (79-73-76)