12 January 2020: A hattrick of 66s did the trick for Wade Ormsby as he marched to a dominant four-stroke victory in the Hong Kong Open. At 17-under 263, the 39-year-old from Adelaide emerged clear winner with neither Gunn Charoenkul (69) and Jazz Janewattananond (68) able to push harder on Sunday. Shane Lowry finished in second with a 64 in the final round helping him to 13-under 267. Tony Finau, the other star attraction this week, shot 67 and finished in fifth place.
Rashid Khan remains consistent
Rashid Khan was the best Indian in the field. The determined Delhi golfer bounced back from a late double bogey and bogey to finish with an even 70 to secure another top ten finish. Even though three of our golfers started the day inside the top ten, it was only Rashid that remained at the end of an intense final round.
He was in good shape after shooting early birdies at the 2nd and 4th holes to push himself up the order. But a bogey at the par-3 fifth stalled his momentum and he reached the turn in a cautious set of pars from there. Rashid recovered the lost stroke at the 10th but he suffered a double blow when he conceded a double bogey at the par-4 14th hole. He suffered more when he lost another stroke at the 16th.
Rashid bounced back with a birdie at the 17th to recoup some of those damages, but it was too late to secure anything more. He settled for sixth and collected USD33,300 for another good week on the Asian Tour.
SSP Chawrasia shot a 73 on Sunday to end the week in T22 while Shiv Kapur finished in T18 at 6-under posting a 71 in the final round. It was a disappointing finish for the two senior pros, who played some solid golf this week. Chawrasia shot 63 on Friday while Kapur was bogey free in a 66 during the second round. Both men reached the final round looking set for a top ten finish.
Wade Ormsby secures first victory in 26 months
Ormsby started the week with a 65 and never quite looked back, scoring a fabulous wire to wire victory over a quality field of golfers. The winner of the 2013 Panasonic Open India scored his last victory also at the Hong Kong Open in 2017, a co-sanctioned event between Asian and European Tours.
“I’ve been working my guts out the last 14 to 15 months trying to take my game to the next level. And like I just said, Australian PGA three weeks ago, losing that one really hurt me so I put a few changes in place. I worked out over the break and to come back here and get the win so soon, can’t put it into words really,” gushed Ormsby. “The guys had to come and catch me basically. I was hoping to win this season but to do it in week two of the year in my first event is special and it will be one I’ll remember forever.
“I have three wins on the main tours in my career and this is my first wire-to-wire. I’m very proud of my play this week. Going through what I went through three weeks ago, that kind of hit me pretty hard. I didn’t even want to know the game for three or four days, but to come back and do what I’ve done this week, like I said, proud of myself and proud of my team.”
The winning putt!@wadeormsby wins the Hong Kong Open wire-to-wire on a score of 17-under-par 263! ??#TheHKOpen #whereitsAT pic.twitter.com/BpHuUFLqih
— Asian Tour (@asiantourgolf) January 12, 2020
Ajeetesh Sandhu finished with an even 70, T41 at 1-under 279. Chikkarangappa and Rahil Gangjee finished the week at an even 280 in T47. Aman Raj was the last of the Indians this weekend in T60 with a 74 on Sunday.
The tour moves to Singapore for the next event starting on 16 January on the Serapong course inside the Sentosa Golf Club. Justin Rose, Matt Kuchar and Henrik Stenson are in the field along with Asian top 50 golfer Janewattananond. Khalin Joshi and Chiragh Kumar have invitations from the tournament. Udayan Mane, Shiv Kapur, Rahil Gangjee, Jyoti Randhawa and Jeev Milkha Singh are also in the field. Ajeetesh Sandhu, Chikkarangappa, Rashid Khan, Viraj Madappa, Aman Raj and SSP Chawrasia complete the Indian interest in the field.
