December 7, 2013: Thailand’s Pornanong Phatlum gave herself perfect birthday gift after she shot victorious round of 66 to lift the Omega Dubai Ladies Masters title with a 15-under-par 273 here on Saturday. She birdied on the 18th to steal victory by a stroke from overnight leader Stacy Lewis. Phatlum celebrated her 24th birthday on December 4th, last Wednesday.
Phatlum began the day in second position on nine-under par, two shots behind Lewis, and she even fell to three shots behind after the 13th hole when Lewis made a further four birdies to Phatlum’s three.However, luck had something else in store for Thai youngster, when she went on to birdie four of the remaining six holes, after both bogeyed the 15th — making an all-important two-foot putt at the end to seal victory.
[highlight]I didn’t think about it in terms of beating Stacy. She’s a big name, we cannot deny it. But I was just thinking about my game [/highlight]
“This win really increases my confidence,” said Phatlum, the second time winner on the Ladies European Tour now. She has won seven times on the Ladies Asia Tour. Her last win was at the Hitachi Classic in January. “It inspires me to move forward from this season, and also, once I have this, I’m looking forward to have more victories.
“I didn’t think about it in terms of beating Stacy. She’s a big name, we cannot deny it. But I was just thinking about my game,”she added.
Phatlum said that her victory would give required boost to up coming Thai golfers.
“This is a good example for them(young Thai golfers) to see that we can do it.”
British Open champion Lewis, who won two other events as well as her second major this season, blamed a camera flash for her defeat. She claimed that a stranger click put her off a birdie shot on 17, that in turn caused her defeat.
“Right when I pulled the club back, a camera went off right behind me,” said the American. “It has happened before and I should have been able to keep going, but it distracted me enough and I missed it.
“The back nine that Pornanong played was pretty impressive. She hit shots when she needed to and made putts, and I didn’t.
“It’s still been a really good year. It’s had its highs and lows. I’ve played some consistent golf. But these last few months have left a sour taste on it, after losing a couple of tournaments right at the end.”
Carlota Ciganda (67-70-73-71) of Spain finished third.
