Queensland&aposs Kevin Marques made birdies in the last two holes to hold off Thailand&aposs Poom Saksansin to win the Malaysian Amateur Open title at the Royal Pahang Golf Club in Kuantan on Sunday. Marques fought out a tight tussle with Saksansin and fellow Queenslander Taylor MacDonald for most of the round. 23-year-old Marques took advantage of MacDonald&aposs triple bogey on the 13th to move into the lead to eventually end with a three-under par 68. It was enough for Marques to finish a stroke clear of Saksansin, who completed his round earlier to top the leaderboard on nine-under 275 after a tournament best of six-under 65. MacDonald, the top-ranked player in the field, bounced back strongly with a closing eagle to salvage a one-under 70, to take third place on 276. That put him one stroke ahead of India s Karan Taunk who finished the day with an impressive 67. The quartet of Thailand s Chanachok Dejpiratanamongkol (71), Udayan Mane of India (69), Indonesian Syukrizal (69) and Taiwan s Chieh Po-lee (72) were five strokes adrift in joint fifth. In the absence of Gavin Kyle Green, who did not return home to defend the title due to his commitment with his studies in United States, Abel Tam (72) finished as the leading Malaysian this year with a four-day total of one-under 283. He shared the ninth spot alongside Singaporean duo Edgar Oh (71) and Jerome Ng (72).
Author: Golf Australia