Veterans fight out finish of Sega Sammy Cup
BY Bruce Young | Japan Tour | 2005 Sega Sammy Cup | Wrap | 24 Jul 2005
39-year-old Taiwanese golfer KC (Keng-Chi) Lin won his third Japan Golf Tour event when he found a way to hold off 45-year-old Kiyoshi Maita over the closing holes of the Sega Sammy Cup in Hokkaido.
Lin was leaking oil over the final few holes with bogeys at the 14th and 16th but he parred the last two holes to edge out Maita, who had finished twenty minutes earlier, by one shot. Maita produced a last round of 66 to all but catch the joint overnight leader.
The two other players sharing the lead heading into the final round, Shingo Katayama and Jeev Milkha Singh faded on the final day to finish 4th and 8th respectively.
The victory was Maita’s first on the Japan Golf Tour since 2001 when he won both the Aiful Cup and the ANA Open the latter of which was also played in Hokkaido.
Yoichi Shimizu was third, two shots behind the winner, with Katayama fourth and a Tetsuji Hiratsuka, Dinesh Chand and Australia’s Scott Laycock sharing fifth.
For Laycock, it was his best finish of what has been a slow season to date. He has recently begun working once again with his long time coach Ian Triggs and appears to be returning to the form which saw him as one of the leading foreigners in Japan before he left to play the USPGA Tour in 2003.
Steve Conran and Anthony Gilligan were the next best of the Australians in 40th place with Craig Jones and Brad Andrews 53rd.
