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Chan claims victory in Pattaya
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Chan claims victory in Pattaya

Chan Shih-chang won the King’s Cup presented by PTT Group by two strokes after producing a closing 67 at Phoenix Gold Golf Club on Sunday.

Chan Shih-chang

The 30 year old, who entered the final day with a slender one shot lead, mixed six birdies with three bogeys in his final round to finish the week on 12 under and claim the title.

Lin Wen-tang came second on ten under after posting a four-under-par 66, while local favourite Danthai Boonma and England's Mark Foster were another shot back on nine under.

Eddie Pepperell, who was tied at the top with Chan and Boonma as the final group reached the turn on Sunday, finished on seven under after carding three bogeys and a double bogey in his final four holes.

Chinese Taipei's Chan began his final round in style, sinking his five-foot birdie putt at the first before making back-to-back gains at the fourth and fifth holes to move to 12 under.

Chan Shih-chang

His lead was reduced to a single shot when England's Pepperell rolled in for an eagle at the sixth, and after they both dropped a shot at the short seventh, Chan carded his second bogey of the day on the ninth to relinquish the outright lead.

Chan and Pepperell matched each other blow for blow at the start of the back nine, with both players picking up shots at the 11th and 14th to reach 12 under.

But Chan was alone at the top of the leaderboard once more when Pepperell missed his par putt at the 15th.

Chan made the third bogey of his round at the 16th but bounced straight back with a sensational birdie at the 17th to head to the last tee with a two shot lead ahead of nearest challenger Lin.

And even though he was unable to roll in his birdie putt at the 18th, Chan made par to win by two shots.

After his win, Chan said: "I was actually feeling very nervous when I started my round. I knew it would be a very close fight as there was little separating the leaders at the start of the day.

"I told myself to play my own game and not look at the leaderboard too much so that I’ll not feel so nervous.

"It was a close battle all the way until the 16th when I knew I had a chance. Words cannot describe how I felt when I sank that last putt - Chan Shih-chang

"It has always been my dream to win on the Asian Tour and I did it today.

"The future is bright and I can only look forward from here."

Chan Shih-chang and Lin Wen-tang

Lin, who started his fourth round three strokes adrift of countryman Chan, dropped a shot at the second but bounced back immediately, notching birdies at the third and sixth holes.

He carded his second bogey of the day at the seventh before firing another birdie at the next to get to the turn in 34.

Lin then made three further gains on his back nine to head into the clubhouse on ten under.

"I didn’t really set any targets for myself when I started my round today," said Lin. "I’ve always been telling myself that the key to a good round is to relax and not put too much pressure on myself. If I can play my best, the result will come.

"I thought I had a good chance coming in as I was really hitting the ball very well.

"I reminded myself several times during the round not to hit into the bunkers and I managed to do that today."

Foster recovered from consecutive bogeys at the fourth and fifth with a gain at the long sixth to cover the front nine in 36 shots.

Mark Foster

And birdies at the tenth, 14th and 17th saw him finish in a share of third place on nine under.

Boonma reached the turn in 31 after carding an eagle, three birdies and a bogey on his front nine.

He found himself in a tie for first place after reeling off a hat-trick of birdies from the 11th, but a bogey at the 16th saw him post a closing 64 to finish on nine under.

Boonma said: "This result is better than what I had expected and I can only look forward.

"Hopefully, this result marks the start of better things to come for me and I will continue to do my best."

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