Felipe Aguilar secured his maiden European Tour title after breathtaking finale at the Enjoy Jakarta Astro Indonesia Open culminated in a dramatic two shot swing on the 72nd hole.
The Chilean took the title and the €137,883 first prize from India’s Jeev Milkha Singh with a brilliant birdie to Singh’s bogey on the Cengkareng Golf Club’s 18th green after a final round packed with tension and excitement.
With six or seven players within striking distance of overnight leader Aguilar at the start of the final round, the likes of James Kamte, Prom Meesawat and Liang Wen-chong gradually fell out if the running as the day progressed, leaving Aguilar and Singh, playing together in the final group of the day, to battle it out for the ultimate prize.
Singh, two shots behind Aguilar at the start of the day, played brilliantly for the first 15 holes, eagling the par five sixth and birdieing the part three eight to leapfrog Aguilar, who was one over after eight holes, at the top of the leaderboard.
The Chilean was not to be denied though. A succession of missed putts came to a halt with a birdie on the ninth, which was quickly followed by another on the tenth pull himself level with his main rival.
Singh’s response was instant, eagling the short par fourth 11th, where Aguilar’s chip lipped out, meaning his birdie left him one stroke back. As they reached the 15th, Aguilar had what seemed a fatal set-back with a three-putt bogey, but moments later Singh dropped a shot on the 16th to half his lead to one stroke.
“I felt that things were falling apart when I three putted the 15th, especially with a player like Jeev,” Aguilar told the Media after receiving is trophy.
“He is a great player and you do not want to give him any advantage with three holes to play. I knew that it was up to me to try and catch him. I was a little bit more aggressive on the putts coming in because I had to try and chase it.
“After he made bogey on the 16th I realised that I was still in the game. I knew I had to make a three on the 18th for a play-off. I said he needs to make three if he wants to beat me. I was so sure that I was going to birdie. I didn’t expect him to bogey but you never know how golf is. It’s not over till it’s over.”
Singh was hugely disappointed after missing a four foot putt to take the tournament into extra time, but had the class to congratulate Aguilar.
He said: “It was Aguilar’s day and not mine today. It was disappointing for me but I guess that’s golf.
Aguilar deserves this win and I congratulate him.”
Singh was not the only one to congratulate Aguilar, who was mobbed by the local caddies at Cengkareng when he lifted the trophy.
“It feels awesome to win,” he smiled. “This is one of things that I wanted to do when I decided to start playing golf again and come back out on Tour. I won twice on the Challenge Tour last year and I felt I had the game and that I was playing well – I just had to hope that it would be my week and it turned out to be my week.
“This is life changing for me – I can play whatever I want to play and can play easily. Hopefully there is more of this to come.”
