Campbell snatches last gasp victory in Golf Hong Kong Open
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E-mail Xinhua, November 13, 2023
New Zealand's Ben Campbell drained a 15-foot birdie putt on the par-four 18th hole to win the 2 million U.S. dollars Hong Kong Open on Sunday after a gripping battle over the closing stages with playing-partners Cam Smith of Australia and Thailand's Phachara Khongwatmai.
Campbell, who had not led at any stage of the tournament until that brilliant last putt, shot a four-under-par 66 to finish on 19-under-par and beat Smith by one and Phachara by two.
Smith returned a 68 and Phachara a 69 at the Hong Kong Golf Club on Sunday, while Canadian Richard T. Lee came in with a 64 to tie for third.
All three players, playing in the final pairing, were tied playing the last with the chance of a sudden-death play-off very high.
However, Campbell won it in normal time after Smith had to lay up with his second shot and nearly holed his third before making a four, while Phachara missed his birdie putt from 25-feet and three putted after missing a three footer.
For Campbell, who also birdied the 17th, this is his maiden win on the Asian Tour, with his only other win in the professional game coming at the New Zealand PGA Championship in 2018.
"It's good to finally get the monkey off the back and yeah, sort of just battling away all day," said Campbell.
"Sort of didn't get off to the greatest of starts and swing wasn't feeling that great. Sort of went back to a few close losses and wrote a few notes down in my yardage book last night, and really used them on those last four or five holes."
American Andy Ogletree was the other big winner after he was confirmed as the winner of the International Series Order of Merit, which hands him a 'golden ticket' onto next year's multi-million dollar LIV Golf League. He finished in joint 15th following a 69.
The Asian Tour heads to the BNI Indonesian Masters next week. The 1.5 million U.S. dollars event will be played at Royale Jakarta Golf Club and is the final International Series event of the season, and the third from last tournament on the Asian Tour schedule.
