Thailand’s rising star Pavit Tangkamolprasert rounded off a superb week when he fired a three-under-par 69 to claim his third Asian Development Tour (ADT) victory at the PGM MNRB Sarawak Championship on Saturday.
Pavit, who just clinched his second ADT title in Malaysia one month ago, mixed his card with one eagle and four birdies against three straight bogeys to compile a four-day total of 14-under-par 274 at the RM250,000 ADT event.
Young talent Arie Irawan marked his best result on the ADT this season following a 68 to take second place with Tirawat Kaewsiribandit of Thailand, who slipped with a closing 74 after sharing the overnight lead with Pavit at the Sarawak Golf Club.
Annop, younger brother of Pavit, battled to a 68 to stay one shot back in fourth place with England’s Grant Jackson while Malaysia’s Sukree Othman and Thailand’s Pasamet Pogamnerd shared sixth on matching 281s after rounds of 70 and 73 respectively.
Pavit came into prominence when he won his first ADT title in the 2013 season-ending event in Jakarta.
He has enjoyed a great 2014 season so far on the Tour where he notched two victories and five top-fives.
Pavit’s overnight four-shot lead was never really threatened despite ending his round with three consecutive bogeys.
The talented Thai was pleased to move up one rung to second place on the Order of Merit where he trails current leader Chan Shih-Chang of Taiwan by about US$16,400 (RM52,480).
“I am really pleased with my win. I’ve been playing some good golf and with this win, I am quite confident of finishing in the top-five on the final Order of Merit to earn my Asian Tour card for 2015,” said the 25-year-old Thai, who took home a winner’s prize purse of US$13,769 and six Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) points.
Pavit, who played in his eighth consecutive event, has been honing his skills on the ADT since missing out on his Asian Tour card at the Qualifying School in February.
“Playing on the ADT has helped a lot in my game. I gained a lot of experience and I think my game has improved a lot. I’m getting used to coping with all the travelling and playing in all kinds of conditions through the different tournaments every week,” said Pavit.
“I’ve been trying to maintain my fitness. I’m glad to still be able to play well although I am getting tired. I will continue to work on that as I still have a couple more events to go,” added Pavit.
Meanwhile, an upbeat Arie hoped to ride on his good form as he attempts to make his mark on the Asian Tour when he heads to the Worldwide Holdings Selangor Masters this week.
“I’m enjoying a good run of form recently so I hope to ride on that when I play on the Asian Tour. I learnt a lot from playing against the good players out here,” said the 24-year-old, who enjoyed six top-10s this season on the ADT, which is the pathway to the elite Asian Tour.