South Korean teenager Noh Seung-yul won the US$500,000 Midea China Classic yesterday with a one-shot victory over Australia’s Terry Pilkadaris.
Noh, at 17 the third youngest winner on the Asian Tour, fought off a spirited challenge from Pilkadaris by posting a three-under 68 for a 17-under 267 total.
Singapore’s Mardan Mamat enjoyed his third top 10 finish of the season as he finished tied third on 269 with South Korea’s Park Jun-won and Taiwan’s Lu Wei-chih.
Noh, who had maintained a poker face all week, finally broke into a smile when he lifted the trophy and pocketed the US$79,250 winner’s check.
“I always try to control my emotions when I play as I tend to focus solely on my game. Maybe I should learn to relax more now and enjoy my game,” Noh said.
He started the day with a two-stroke lead and increased it to three with an opening birdie. But he bogeyed the third to allow compatriot Park, who was in close second, to draw level for a time.
The teenager, however, recovered and picked up two more birdies on the fourth and sixth to extend his lead to two. With Park dropping a shot on the 13th and Pilkadaris posting three more birdies after his turn, it was down to the wire between Noh and Pilkadaris at the closing 18th.
However, with Pilkadaris failing to sink a birdie that could have forced a play-off, the title was Noh’s and he has also now qualified for the HSBC Champions in Shanghai next month.
“Noh’s a very good player and he was steady under pressure there. I thought I had that putt on the last. I looked up and thought that I had it turning in, but unfortunately it was not meant to be,” Pilkadaris said.
Home favorite Liang Wenchong ended his campaign in tied-16th after closing with a final 274.
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