Five years after bursting onto the scene with five wins on the Big Easy Tour, South African Ian Snyman finally broke through on the global scene with a resounding two-shot win in the US$500,000 Taifong Open \u2013 his maiden win on the Asian Tour in 83 career starts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The popular, soft-spoken 29-year-old made only three bogeys through the week to reach 15-under total after Sunday\u2019s round of three-under par 69. That was enough to deny Mexico\u2019s Santiago De la Fuente (67) and Hong Kong\u2019s Matthew Cheung (68), two players also searching for their first win on the Tour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Chinese Taipei\u2019s Wei-lun Chang (67) was the best-placed among local stars, tied fourth at twelve under, where he was joined by overnight joint leader, Filipino Lloyd Jefferson Go (72) and American Chase Koepka (71).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Thailand\u2019s Suradit Yongcharoenchai (67) and Danthai Boonma (68) were tied seventh at eleven under, while American John Catlin improved to get into the top-10 with a 66, the best round of the day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis is crazy. Two months ago, I was in the shower, and I was thinking, \u2018Will I ever win again?\u2019 You work hard and you run out of ideas about what to do and what to change. And here I am today, and we have managed to do it,\u201d said a relieved Snyman, who climbed to No3 in the Asian Tour Order of Merit with the US$90,000 winning cheque.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAnd it was just solid. I felt like there was very little amount of luck involved out there for me. This week, I managed to swing good, and the putting was good. I was just in a good mindset.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cObviously, I was hoping not to wait for five years for my first win here, but to be honest with you, I haven’t had a lot of chances on the Asian Tour. I\u2019ve had good weeks, but not weeks where I felt like I was in control. There were always some poor shots. But this week was just solid, solid, solid. I\u2019m glad I won feeling good, because sometimes you feel good about your game and you still don\u2019t win.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There was a moment late into the round when things looked dicey for the Belville resident.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Having made only two bogeys in the 68 holes, Snyman hit his tee shot way short on the long par-three 15th hole, and then compounded the error with a poor bunker shot that left him with a long putt for par. He left the first putt nearly 20 feet short and looked set for a debilitating double bogey, before hitting a perfectly read putt for a \u2018crucial\u2019 bogey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At almost the same time, De la Fuente smashed a good-looking second shot on the par-five 17th, but it bounced and went into the bushes behind the green. The 2024 Latin American Amateur champion needed to take a penalty drop and made a bogey. He birdied the 18th to record his best finish on the Asian Tour, but the mistake on the 17th cost him dear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
De le Fuente took the bogey on the 17th in his stride.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt was a crazy week. I struggled a little bit at the beginning of the week, made some silly mistakes. But as the week went on, I understood the course a bit more and how I needed to play,\u201d said De la Fuente.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe 17th is going to hurt for a long time, but I guess it just wasn\u2019t meant to be for me this week. Ian did a great job, and he played amazing this week. I will have my time and I will have my day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis is my second year on the Asian Tour and the first when I have a full card and I can pick and choose my tournaments. So, I am happy to get a good result here and put up points which will help me secure my card for the next season.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cheung, who became a father for the first time two weeks ago and said he played in Taiwan only because his wife asked him to, also recorded his best finish on the Asian Tour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI tried a new golf ball and a new putter and we had a new baby in the past couple of weeks! So, yes\u2026a lot of positives,\u201d said the 29-year-old.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI was really good at staying patient all day. I hit a couple of really good shots in the middle there. Honestly, I wasn\u2019t hitting it too great on the back nine, but I made some really good up and downs to keep myself in it, and I chipped in on the 17th, which was a bit of a cherry on top.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Asian Tour will return to action in two weeks with the Kolon Korea Open Golf Championship at Woo Jeong Hills Country Club from May 21-24.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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