Thailand’s Phachara Khongwatmai was denied a grandstand finish by the brilliance of home favourite Brett Rumford, who beat him 2 and 1 in the gripping final of the ISPS HANDA World Super 6 on Sunday.
The 17-year-old teenager already exceeded all expectations when he not only secured the last play-off spot for the match play rounds on Saturday but also stormed convincingly into the final only to be beaten by the dominant Australian, who was the 54-hole stroke play leader.
As the top seed, Rumford received a bye in the first round and defeated Hideto Tanihara, Wade Ormsby and Adam Bland on his way to the final at the Lake Karrinyup Country Club.
Phachara, on the other hand, had to produce a gallant effort to secure the 24th and final spot to the match play rounds. He finally prevailed after his third attempt at the play-off holes on Saturday and continued to shine by overcoming Australians Sam Brazel, Lucas Herbert, Matthew Millar and Jason Scrivener before facing off with Rumford.
Rumford got off to an encouraging start by winning the first hole before Khongwatmai drew level on the second. It remained all-square until the fourth hole when Rumford regained his advantage with a birdie at the AUD$1.75 million event that is that is tri-sanctioned by the Asian Tour, the ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia and European Tour.
After putting his tee-shot into the bunker on the par-three fifth and failing to get it out with his second, Phachara knew it was all over as Rumford was only left with an easy tap-in for a win.
Interesting facts of the day:
- Phachara Khongwatmai turned professional when he was 14 and hit the headlines quickly when he became the youngest player to win a professional golf tournament in the world.
- Phachara picked up golf at the age of nine and has already won twice on the Asian Development Tour.
- He was also the youngest player to win on the Asian Development Tour in May 2015 at the age of 15.
- Phachara already has two runner-up finishes in his first four starts on the Asian Tour.
- Phachara was competing in his first ever matchplay event since he turned professional in 2014.
- Phachara’s first name, Khongwatmai is translated as ‘Diamond’.
- Prior to his win today, Brett Rumford Brett Rumford has never finished outside the top-20 in each of his last three appearances at Lake Karrinyup Country Club.
- Rumford’s last victory dated back to 2013 in China.
Key Quotes
Brett Rumford (Aus)
All I can say it has been a really, really tough week. You’re looking at the last six holes pretty much to win a 72 hole golf tournament. So it comes down to the nitty gritty of that same feeling of trying to win a golf tournament. But to actually have that from 9am this morning and then finishing up at 5.30om is a really long day. So it was a unique challenge in trying to win a golf championship and feeling that same emotions, tension and pressure for six holes in four straight matches.
It’s just great to be back. It has been a pretty tough road last year and the year before that was even tougher with my surgery. I only saw my daughters, my twin girls for four weeks in six months, and I sort of completely fell out of love with the game and my direction in life. But it’s really nice to get my Tour card back and I feel I’ve got back my worth back as a golfer again.
Phachara Khongwatmai (Tha)
I did not feel any pressure today. After taking the last spot yesterday, I was already very happy. I just told myself to play well and enjoy. Even when I was 1-down after the fourth hole, I told myself to just play good, just try for another birdie. Doesn’t matter if I win or not.
Second place is already a very good result for me this week. I picked up golf when I was in school. I was nine at that time and was asked to choose between tennis or golf. I chose golf. I decided to turn professional at 14 and won my first tournament in Hua Hin.
Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa)
I won’t be surprised to see something similar or something in that class to start on some of the tours. It is definitely different. It’s a massive mindset from the stroke play going to a six-hole match play. You know in six holes, you don’t have a lot of time if you start off poorly and then that makes it really challenging. But I think very entertaining for people watching and that’s what they want.
