Bedfordshire’s Steve Lewton ended a 10-year wait to assert his second victory on the Asian Tour after successful the Mandiri Indonesia Open after a nail-biting play-off.
Experiencing the complete gamut of feelings, the 41-year-old from Woburn, who joined the Asian Tour again in 2012, gained with a birdie on the second further gap in opposition to third-round chief Aaron Wilkin from Australia and Chinese language rookie professional Sampson Zheng.
Lewton began the ultimate spherical one behind Wilkin, and taking part in within the penultimate pairing with Zheng and one other Chinese language golfer, Liu Yanwei. His bid for glory started with three birdies in a row from the fifth and one other on 9 to exit in four-under. One other birdie adopted on 10, earlier than the drama began with bogeys on 13 and 14.
Lewton nonetheless appeared heading in the right direction to win in regulation play when he birdied 16 and 17 at Damai Indah Golf Course in Jakarta for a two-shot lead, however he made a dangerous double-bogey on the par-four 18th, the place his drive landed in a hazard left of the tee.
Sudden demise play-off
He returned a three-under 68 for a event complete of 16-under, whereas Zheng shot the identical rating and Wilkin a 69 to ship the event right into a three-man sudden demise play-off.
Once they returned to the 18th all of them made bogey, with Lewton coming closest to creating a par when lacking a four-footer.
Lewton practically discovered the hazard once more on the second further gap, however his ball was lucky to cease on a cart path. He capitalised on that massive slice of luck and hit his second to eight toes. He duly made the putt to register one of many yr’s hottest wins. Zheng practically chipped in for a birdie, whereas Wilkin missed his three from 12 toes.
Lewton, whose maiden win got here on the Taiwan Masters in 2014, two years after he first began taking part in on the Asian Tour, stated: “It’s been a protracted, very long time since I’ve had that successful feeling. I’ve been second on this event for the previous two years, and I really feel it owed me one. I really feel like I’ve been taking part in fairly properly over the past two or three seasons, so it’s simply good to lastly get one over the road and win a event once more.”
Talking about his remaining spherical, he added: “I acquired by means of 10 holes, and I felt like I used to be sort of coasting. After which I made it tough once more with these dropped pictures on 13 and 14, after which I birdied 16 and 17, after which I had a mini catastrophe on 18. I used to be simply very blissful to get it finished the second time of asking within the play-off, and I’m delighted to not have completed second once more!”
