Lin wins three-way playoff in Hong Kong

BY Bruce Young | Asian Tour | 2008 Hong Kong Open | Round Four | 23 Nov 2008

34-year-old Chinese Taipei golfer, Lin Weng-tang, today won the Hong Kong Open after a dramatic playoff with Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy and Italy’s Fransesco Molinari to secure both his biggest victory and his immediate future.

Lin hit a brilliant approach from the trees for birdie at the first playoff hole to match the birdie of McIlroy while Molinari could only par. Then at the second extra hole Lin’s approach finished a foot or so from the hole and it was all over.

As an event co-sanctioned with both the European and Asian Tour’s this victory offers immediate access to the European Tour should Lin so choose in addition to the very healthy cheque for €327,000. It moved him to second position on the 2008 Asian Tour money list with US$820,000.

The final round developed into a battle between as many as a dozen players and even late in the final nine holes there were at least six or seven players still in with a genuine chance to win. First to crack was the prolific runner up Oliver Wilson who led into the final day and appeared as if he might be able to break his winning voodoo when he stood at 15 under with a share of the lead through 14 holes.

Then came three consecutive bogeys and the questions are still being asked. The Ryder Cup team member is a seven times runner up in European Tour events and it must surely be a matter of time before someone else backs off in the closing stages and allows him to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. When that does happen there will be plenty of wins in store for the Englishman.

McIlroy has been a professional for just 14 months and after a slow start to his 2008 season he has been in fine form of late. Considered to be one of the brightest young stars in the game along with Jason Day and Ryo Ishikawa, McIlroy appears on the verge of his first victory with now six top tens in his last eight starts.

One of the highlights of the final day was the brilliant round of 62 by John Daly who gives every indication that he is focusing his attention on playing well. Without PGA Tour status he will need to rely on improved on course form if he is to retain any sort of credibility with tournament organisers and sponsors who still see him as a crowd puller. He will be in Australia this coming week for the Australian Masters and for the Australian PGA Championship the following week.

The best of the Australasians was again David Gleeson who followed up a brilliant 4th place in Singapore with 5th this week. The 1996 Australian Amateur Champion is at the peak of his professional career right now with a win in Macau followed by his two great placings in Singapore and Hong Kong.

Gleeson has moved from obscurity to 6th place on the Asian Tour Order of Merit in the past month or so with nearly US$450,000 in earnings.

Darren Beck, Mark Brown, Gavin Flint and Marcus Fraser were 34th, Tony Carolan 42nd, Unho Park 53rd, David Bransdon and Scott Strange 63rd and Marcus Both 72nd.

The European Tour moves to Australian for this coming week’s Australian Masters while the Asian Tour will have a one week break before the Vietnam Masters.