Poosit Supupramai wins ADT Defense Raya Golf championship

Poosit Supupramai won the cast prize of US $ 21000 which was further boosted by the President of the Defence Raya Golf Club Lt Gen Amir Riaz to US $31000. Poosit showed splendid golfing skills during the course of the three rounds.

Driving off the tees was powerful and accurate and his approach shots to the green were classy and most of the time they landed within five to six feet of the hole. His victory came through scores of 65 in the first round,68 in the second round and an effective 69 on the final day on Sunday and his aggregate winning score was 202,fourteen under par.

After winning the championship Pooist was of the view that, "Pakistan has been lucky for me and I look forward to come here again next year”. The win was especially sweet and surprising as the 24-year-old Thai was a late entry into the US$120,000 Asian Development Tour (ADT) event as his visa was only approved on Monday.

Luke Joy of England scored 67 on the final day to finish second, one shot from the champion, while Wolmer Murillo (67) of Venezuela and Malcolm Kokocinski (68) of Sweden finished in a share of third place at the Defense Raya Golf and Country Club.

Experienced Luke Joy (England) and Malclom Kokocinski showed the command as they controlled the game so easily and left behind so many Pakistani golfers. The Thai won US$21,000 and moved to 12th position on the Order of Merit. He is now in the running to secure an Asian Tour card for 2018 if he can finish inside the top-five on the final Merit ranking.

Luke Joy stated that “all the players here felt welcomed. It is a good golf course and we enjoyed our stay at Defence Raya. We felt very safe here and I can’t wait to return next year to play still better.”

From amongst the Pakistanis Shabbir Iqbal was the best one with scores of 73, 67 and 70 and an aggregate of 210, six under. Other Pakistanis who cast an imprint of quality golfing were Shahid Javed Khan, Muhammed Asif, Talat Ijaz,Muhammed Imran ,M.Matloob and Hamza Amin and incidentally Hamza Amin 's father Taimur Hassan helped in bringing the Asian Tour to Pakistan.

The best amateur player of the championship was Taimur Khan of KPK. In the allied events in the Pro AM competition the team that won was Masaru Takahadi of Japan and local players Maj Haroon Shafiq, Fareed Bajwa, Rustam Chatta. On the occasion of prize distribution for this event, Pakistan Golf Federation requested Ghulam Nabi a former Pakistan Open Champion for six years to give away prizes to Pro Am winners.

At the conclusion of the championship, Lt Gen Amir Riaz awarded prizes to the winners in the presence of Brig (r) Nayyar Afzal of Pakistan Golf Federation, Brig Sikandar Hayat of DHA Golf Club, Brig Sajid Khokhar, Administrator, DHA, officials of the Asia Tour Organizing Team and a large number of golfers. Lt Gen Amir Riaz committed that the Asia Tour Championship will come back to Pakistan with more attractive prize money.

Leading final round results:

1. 202 - Poosit SUPUPRAMAI (THA) 65 68 69
2. 203 - Luke JOY (ENG) 70 66 67
3. 204 - Wolmer MURILLO (VEN) 72 65 67, Malcolm KOKOCINSKI (SWE) 66 70 68
4. 206 - John CATLIN (USA) 72 69 65, Jakraphan PREMSIRIGORN (THA) 67 68 71
5. 207 - Donlaphatchai NIYOMCHON (THA) 69 70 68
6. 208 - Wisut ARTJANAWAT (THA) 70 71 67, Masaru TAKAHASHI (JPN) 67 73 68, Nattawat SUVAJANAKORN (THA) 72 64 72
7. 210 - MUHAMMAD Shabbir (PAK) 73 67 70, Panuwat MUENLEK (THA) 68 70 72
8. 211 - Shahid Javed KHAN (PAK) 73 68 70
9. 212 - WANG Wei-lun (TWN) 75 70 67, Hamza AMIN (PAK) 69 75 68, Muhammad ASIF (PAK) 68 72 72
10. 214 - LIU Yan-wei (CHN) 77 69 68, Martin DIVE (AUS) 72 73 69, Matloob AHMED (PAK) 74 71 69, Talat IJAZ (PAK) 72 68 74
11. 215 - Sam CYR (USA) 73 73 69, Muhmmad IMRAN (PAK) 69 73 73, Mathiam KEYSER (RSA) 72 69 74
12. 216 - Adrian HALIMI (INA) 75 70 71, Taimoor KHAN (A) (PAK) 73 70 73, Amir NAZRIN (MAS) 70 72 74
13. 217 - Pannakorn UTHAIPAS (THA) 72 73 72