Nicholas Fung Wins Maiden Asian Tour Title

KUALA LUMPUR, June 19 (Bernama) -- Malaysia’s Nicholas Fung, 27, overcame nerves to secure his maiden Asian Tour title at the Queen’s Cup on Sunday and dedicated the career breakthrough to his father. The Asian Tour official website said Fung courageously holed a four-foot par putt on the 18th hole at Santiburi Samui Country Club in Koh Samui, Thailand, for a closing four-under-par 67 and a one-stroke win over homester, Jazz Janewattananond. "My first win, I’m happy and very excited. I was lucky enough to play with Thaworn Wiratchant for four days and learned a lot from him,. He's a legend and kept motivating me to be a good golfer like him," said Fung. The slightly-built Fung paid tribute to his father, En Ping, who was with him on the holiday isle on what was also Father’s Day on Sunday around the world. "It's a special gift for my father. I won an ADT event in Malaysia on my mum's birthday and this week, winning on Father's Day is important. He taught me a lot since I was young. He brought me to the golf course, taught me how to be a better golfer and how to be a confident person to face the future. "I just followed his advice and thanks to him, he guided me all the way until today to win this tournament. I'm sure he's very happy. We did it on the right day," he said. His impressive 15-under-par 269 winning aggregate saw him join countrymen Danny Chia ( 2002 and 2015), Airil Rizman Zahari (2007) and Ben Leong (2008) as winners on the region’s premier tour. For his feat, Fung earned US$90,000 (about RM385,035) to move up to 13th place on the Asian Tour's Order of Merit with US$122,007 (about RM521,966). He finished 12th on the Merit list last year for his best career finish yet. Final scores (Par-71): 269 - Nicholas Fung (MAS) 66-68-68-67; 270 - Jazz Janewattananond (THA) 67-72-65-66; 271 - Hung Chien-yao (TPE) 66-71-67-67; 272 - Juvic Pagunsan (PHI) 68-67-68-69; 273 - Thaworn Wiratchant (THA) 70-63-70-70; 275 - Prayad Marksaeng (THA) 65-70-71-69, Rashid Khan (IND) 65-70-70-70, Angelo Que (PHI) 65-70-69-71; 276 - Jbe Kruger (RSA) 70-78-71-67, Danny Chia (MAS) 69-68-67-72. -- BERNAMA