NEW DELHI: Australian Wade Ormsby held his nerve to overcome a triple bogey and complete a wire-to-wire victory by one stroke for his maiden professional title at the Panasonic Open India yesterday.
Ormsby, who held at least a share of the lead from the opening round, carded a final-round one-under-par 71 for a total of nine-under 279 to finish a shot ahead of Thai Boonchu Ruangkit (69) at the Delhi Golf Club.
Singapore’s Lam Chih Bing (72), who had the lead briefly during the final round, finished third while India’s Shiv Kapur (71) bogeyed two of his last three holes to finish three shots behind Ormsby in fourth.
Starting the day with a one-stroke advantage, Ormsby came back strongly after the triple bogey by sinking three birdies in four holes from the fifth to the eighth hole.
He dropped another shot on the 12th hole but an 18-foot birdie conversion on the 17th was enough to seal his victory.
“It means so much. I’ve played tournaments worldwide but to finally get a win in Asia is fantastic,” the 33-year-old, who finished tied 33rd and tied 20th in Malaysia and Chiangmai respectively, told the Asian Tour.
“I was so disappointed in Malaysia and Chiangmai as I played well on both weeks but didn’t finish them off. I knew there was a win in there for me and I am glad I came here.”
Boonchu, who was looking to become the oldest winner on the Asian Tour at 56, was happy to have been able to challenge his younger opponents.
“Conditions were really tough out there the entire week but to be able to play the way I did even at 56 years old really says a lot about my game,” Boonchu said.
“I’ve shown that I still have what it takes to compete against the younger boys but I just ran out of steam toward the end. But overall, it has been a good week and all I can say is never write off an old man.”
Ormsby, Boonchu and Lam, the top three finishers, will be invited to the Asia-Pacific Panasonic Open, co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour and Japanese Tour, in Osaka in September.
Horschel keeps lead, McIlroy 4 back
Meanwhile, American Billy Horschel continued his impressive recent form to maintain a two-shot lead at the Texas Open on Saturday with world No. 2 Rory McIlroy in striking distance four off the pace.
Horschel fired a solid two-under par 70 in the third round to improve to 10-under 206 for the tournament, two clear of fellow Americans Charley Hoffman (70) and former US Open champion Jim Furyk (69) at eight under 208.
Northern Ireland’s McIlroy, searching for some form before next week’s Masters after an indifferent start to the season, shot a scratchy 71 to set six-under and in a tie for fourth with Americans Bob Estes (69) and Ryan Palmer (68).
The former No. 1 started strong with two birdies in his opening three holes but bogeyed three of his next eight to fall back in the pack.
The 23-year-old then steadied with two birdies in the run home to give himself a shot at a confidence-boosting win.
“I feel like I fought back well,” McIlroy told reporters. “I started the back nine with two three putts but to birdie 12 and 14 to sort of get it back there was nice.
“I had a couple of chances coming in I didn’t take advantage of. I hit a great drive down 17 and just hit a terrible wedge shot and it wasn’t a very good bunker shot at the last, so it could have been a couple of shots better. But I am still in a decent position going into the last day and hopefully I can make the ground up.”
Horschel, who started the year ranked 312th in the world but is currently 132nd after a runner-up finish in last week’s Houston Open, carded five birdies and three bogeys to claim his first 54-hole lead on the PGA tour.
“Today was a good round,” Horschel told reporters. “Obviously there was a lot of emotion going on starting the day but I felt like I hit the ball pretty well, made some key putts, missed a couple coming in. But with this wind blowing you just have to stay patient and just try to hit every shot solid.
“I think I did a pretty good job of that, there were a few loose ones, but all in all a good day.”
The 26-year-old leads the tour in active cut streaks with 21 consecutive cuts but has yet to taste victory.
