Richard Lee wins Solaire Open

March 16, 2014: When others failed to stay on, it was Canada’s Richard T. Lee’s chance to claim a sensational one shot victory at the Solaire Open, and he did it successfully after the local favourite Angelo Que’s title chances were dashed after one bad hole on Sunday.

Lee overcame a four-shot deficit in the final round with a two-under-par 69 to defeat Thailand’s Chawalit Plaphol by one shot and win his first Asian Tour title at the US$300,000 event.

India’s  SSP Chowrasia could not revive his game and finished tied 27th after carding four-over 75 in the final round. Rahil Gangjee further slipped to 38th place on Sunday after scoring seven-over 76.

[highlight]  This win means so much to me and it opens so many doors, said Lee [/highlight]

Overnight leader Que was onthe verge of a fourth Asian Tour win before his cards came tumbling down on the par-five second hole when he shot a 12 after hitting three out-of-bound tee shots at the challenging The Country Club.

Carlos Pigem of Spain finished tied third while Steve Lewton of England, Paul Peterson of the United States and Masahiro Kawamura of Japan, whose 65 was the day’s lowest score, shared fourth.

“This win means so much to me and it opens so many doors. To be honest, I felt like I was in contention for the first three days. I shot under-par each day and I knew that if I can came out on the last day to play the way I did then I would have a chance to win. I’m glad I did just that!” said Lee, who totalled seven-under-par 277 to win US$54,000.

Lee, whose parents are Korean, was ecstatic with his maiden victory after enjoying a solid rookie season on the Asian Tour in 2013 where he finished 32nd on the Order of Merit. However, there was a sense of disappointment as he had to watch his best friend Que walk away empty handed.

“It was a learning experience for me on the Asian Tour last year. I met some great people like Angelo Que, Unho Park and Lam Chih Bing. They are good players and I learnt a lot from them. I wished Angelo luck yesterday and told him to play his best. It was unfortunate to see what happened to him,” said the 23-year-old Lee.

Lee ensured that he sealed the deal at the Solaire Open with a huge 25 footer birdie putt on the 15th hole.

Chawalit, a four-time Asian Tour winner, narrowly missed a huge 35-feet birdie putt on the last which he needed to make to force a play-off.

Que had to settle for tied 21st after shooting an 82 for a 287 total.