Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano of Spain and Filipino Juvic Pagunsan will return today to attempt to complete a sudden-death playoff for a Singapore Open title that the weather seems determined to wash out.
Both men finished a dramatic final round of a tournament already reduced to 54 holes tied on 14-under yesterday, but two attempts at a sudden-death playoff failed under the leaden and stormy skies over Sentosa Golf Club.
The entire field had completed their third rounds in a five-hour window between weather warnings, but the joint leaders were only able to tee off on the par-five 18th playoff hole before the threat of thunder sent them back to the clubhouse.
Photo: EPA
After a 90-minute delay, both men returned to lay-up short of the green as buggies rushed them down the sodden fairway to speed up play, but the heavens opened once more and after two hours of non-stop rain, play was abandoned for the day.
Today’s finish, the second in a row on a Monday, represents a huge disappointment for the players, organizers and fans, who had finally been rewarded for their patience after three days of frustrating weather breaks with a nail-biting final round.
In regulation, Pagunsan drained a 12-foot birdie putt on the last to record a four-under 67, before overnight leader Fernandez-Castano recovered to hole a similar length putt for par after finding water off the tee.
Photo: EPA
The Spaniard had held a four-stroke lead at the turn and appeared to be cruising to victory, but a dramatic collapse on the back nine saw him drop three shots as the pressure began to tell on the 31-year-old over the closing holes.
The 33-year-old Pagunsan had slipped under the radar in his pursuit of a first European Tour victory, playing a solid bogey-free round to close on the leaders as one by one the contenders threatened, before falling away.
Should Fernandez-Castano seal victory in the US$6 million co-sanctioned event, it will be his fifth on the European Tour and his first since 2008, when he edged out Lee Westwood in a playoff for the British Masters.
Anthony Kim (64) and Louis Oosthuizen (65) both stormed up the leaderboard to finish one behind the leading pair, with New Zealand’s Danny Lee, Dutchman Joost Luiten and Italy’s Edoardo Molinari a further shot back in a tie for fifth place.
Taiwan’s Chan Yih-shin shot a final-round 69 to finish tied for 33rd place on five-under 208, while Lin Wen-tang finished a further three shots back tied for 62nd place after a 73.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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