Date: October 19, 2008
Author:

Pilkadaris edged out

Australia&aposs Terry Pilkadaris has finished second behind Noh Seung-yul at the Midea China Classic. The Korean teenager became the third-youngest winner on the Asian Tour by securing the one-shot victory after carding a three-under-par 68 for a 17-under-par 267 total. Pilkadaris shot a four-under-par 67 to take second place while Singapore&aposs Mardan Mamat finished tied for third alongside Korea&aposs Park Jun-won and Chinese Taipei&aposs Lu Wei-chih. Noh is the third youngest player to a win a title on the Asian Tour after Thailand&aposs Chinnarat Phadungsil and Korean Kim Dae-sub. “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,” said Noh. Pilkadaris missed the chance to force a playoff after failing to sink a birdie on the last, allowing Noh to claim victory. “Noh&aposs a very good player and he was steady under pressure there. I thought I had that putt on the last,” said the 34-year-old. “I looked up and thought that I had it turning in but unfortunately, it was not meant to be.” The victory means Noh qualifies for the HSBC Champions in Shanghai next month. Final scores from the China Classic: (par 71) -17: Noh Seung-yul 66 66 67 68 -16: Terry Pilkadaris (Australia) 67 67 67 67 -15: Jun-won Park 66 69 66 68, Mardan Mamat 69 68 68 64, Lu Wei-chih 64 72 66 67 -13: Andrew Dodt (Australia) 67 69 69 66, Chinnarat Phadungsil 69 68 67 67, Neven Basic (Australia) 69 66 69 67 -12: Lin Wen-tang 68 70 64 70, Rahil Ganjee 70 69 64 69 -11: Rhys Davies 67 71 68 67, Mitchell Brown (Australia) 67 69 70 67, Unho Park (Australia) 73 66 68 66, David Bransdon (Australia) 70 69 67 67, Anthony Kang 68 71 67 67 -10: Simon Dunn 66 72 67 69, Ashley Hall (Australia) 70 69 70 65, Liang Wen-chong 68 70 67 69 -9: Digvijay Singh 68 72 68 67, Artemio Murakami 71 66 73 65, Hsu Mong-nan 65 70 71 69, Chen Yuan-chi 67 68 72 68, Henry Epstein (Australia) 67 71 66 71, Thammanoon Srirot 73 67 71 64