South Korea’s Bae Sang-moon built a big lead, but had to survive a mid-round slump to earn a two-shot victory at the US$6 million Frys.com Open in Napa, California, on Sunday.
Bae carded a final-round of 73 to finish on 15-under-par 273 at the Silverado Country Club in the opening event of the season on the PGA Tour.
Australian Steven Bowditch (67), boosted by an eagle at the par-five 16th, finished second on 13-under.
Photo: AFP
Bae, 28, made four bogeys in a seven-hole stretch mid-round, but held on to take the win and pocket US$1.08 million for his second victory on the PGA Tour.
He also has 12 international wins.
Bae built a six-shot lead early in the final round, but made the mistake of looking at the leaderboard, and a mixture of nerves and excitement got the better of him as he frittered away most of his advantage.
However, none of his closest rivals could launch a serious challenge and Bae had the luxury of missing a series of short putts without ever letting his lead dip below two strokes in demanding, breezy conditions.
“Sometimes I felt excited too much and sometimes nervous, and sometimes lost focus a little,” he told reporters. “I didn’t want to look at the scoreboards, but I did. I looked a lot. That’s why I made a lot of bogeys on the back nine.”
It was Bae’s first top-10 finish since he won the Byron Nelson Championship in May last year, but he expressed confidence that this latest success would be the first of many.
“After the first win, I didn’t play well last year,” he said. “I was very frustrated, very anxious and nervous, but now I’ve got the second one, I think third and fourth will come easy since I have the confidence.”
Bae said he hoped to earn a spot on the International team for the Presidents Cup to be played in South Korea next year and also wants to represent South Korea at the Olympic Games in 2016.
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