Jaco Ahlers birdied the last hole on Sunday in the Asian Tour’s International Series Singapore to card a one-under-par 71 and finish in share of seventh.
The timely birdie came after he had stumbled to three bogeys in four holes from the 14th to slip to 10-under for the tournament at that stage. He had made three birdies on the front nine to get to 14-under with the home-stretch ahead of him, and be very much in contention for the win.
He made pars all the way to the 13th after the turn, and then bogeys 14. He seemed to have steadied things with a par on 14, but he dropped twice more on 16 and 17. That final birdie saw him finish at 12-under, four shots behind Nitithorn Thippong of Thailand. Thippong carded a three-under 69 to hold off Canadian Richard T Lee, Malaysia’s Gavin Green and Thailand’s Phachara Khongwatmai by one stroke.
Ahlers’ finish means he is currently in 30th place on the Asian Tour Order of Merit.
Justin Harding also had a closing one-under 71 to finish on eight-under, in a share of 31st, together with fellow-LIV Golf player Patrick Reed.
Jbe’ Kruger went one-over in the final round, slipping to a share of 36th on seven-under. Keith Horne also had a one-over finish, taking him to two-under and a share of 63rd, while Adilson Da Silva had a one-under to move into a share of 67th on one-under for the week.
First-round leader Scott Vincent faded to a closing five-over 77 to slide all the way down to a share of 57th on three-under, together with another fellow-LIV Golf players, Andy Ogletree of the United States. Vincent’s younger brother, making his Asian Tour debut, outdid his more illustrious brother with a closing two-under 70 taking him to nine-under and a share of 22nd.
