BRUNEI Darussalam’s golfer Awangku Muhd Syakir bin Pengiran Haji Alli produced his best performance after 72 holes in the final round of the men’s individual golf after carding a four-over-par 76 in the 18th Asian Games at the Pondok Indah Golf and Country Club in Jakarta yesterday.
The national golfer, whose best round was a 78 in both the first and third day, climbed three places to 57th in the table after amassing 25-over-par 313.
Awangku Muhd Syakir enjoyed a positive start in the first and tenth hole with a birdie but made seven bogeys in the round including five in the first nine. He also dropped a birdie in the par-5 14th as his back nine fared better than the first.
Meanwhile, national teammate Mohd Aritz Maldini bin Haji Abdul Majid climbed up two places to 65th after posting a six-over-par 78, equalling his score from the opening day.
Mohd Aritz Maldini sunk a birdie in the fourth hole but his round was mired by a double bogey in the 12th hole and five bogeys to conclude his campaign with a 31-over-par 319.
Japan’s Keita Nakajima clinched gold after winning the tournament by a single stroke with 11-under-par.
The 18-year old has been at the top of the leader-board since the opening round and led by three strokes heading into the medal round but faced intense competition from South Korea’s Seungtaek Oh who took silver with a 10-under-par.
The South Korean finished the round with a solid three-under-par 69 to follow with his five-under-par 67 in the penultimate round but Nakajima just held on to his score in a tight finish.
Nakajima made two birdies which proved enough in the end to protect his lead though a bogey in the par-4 15th provided a grandstand finish should any kind of a slip materialised.
Seungtaek knew that a repeat of his third-round efforts could be substantial in his quest of knocking off his Japanese rival and his three successive birdies suggested a probable comeback.
However, he took a hit after a solid round was affected by two bogeys at the backend of the front nine having already bogeyed the second hole.
Seungtaek gained steam in the back nine with three birdies but on another area of the course Nakajima demonstrated coolness to hold onto his lead which proved to be the winning mark.
China’s Jin Cheng, who went into medal contention in similar fashion as Seungtaek, won bronze, two shots behind the winner after posting a final-round of two-under-par 70.
