Siddikur Rahman reigns supreme on home turf with four-shot victory at City Bank American Express Dhaka Open
Dhaka, Jan 27 (IBNS): Bangladesh’s Md Siddikur Rahman lived up to the expectations of the home crowd as he recorded a four-shot victory at the inaugural City Bank American Express Dhaka Open, a US$ 60,000 event, played at his home course, the Kurmitola Golf Club. Siddikur fired a final round of two-under-70 to end the week with a total of 14-under-274.
Sweden’s Malcolm Kokocinski (67) finished a distant second at 10-under-278 at the event tri-sanctioned by the Asian Development Tour (ADT), Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI) and Bangladesh Professional Golfers Association (BPGA).
iddikur Rahman (68-66-70-70), the overnight leader by two shots, put up a consistent display on the final day making four birdies and two bogeys. The 33-year-old was in no mood to yield an inch to his rivals from the very start as was evident from his three birdies over the first 10 holes.
Rahman, who was in the lead since round two, did suffer a couple of setbacks with bogeys on the 11th and 13th but was solid through the final stretch thanks to a birdie and four pars on the last five holes that saw him sail home with a comfortable margin.
It was Siddikur’s fourth international win and second triumph on the ADT. Siddikur had also won his first event on the ADT, the 2011 Grameenphone Bangladesh Masters, at the same venue, the Kurmitola Golf Club.
Siddikur, a two-time Asian Tour winner, said, “I was really hungry for a win this week. I’m delighted that I could live up to the expectations of the fans here in Bangladesh.
“My putting form was back today as I sank some long putts including a 15-footer on the ninth and a 35-footer on the 10th. Those two putts really lifted my confidence. I had a great week with the putter and made a lot of long putts except for the third round.
“This win is a huge boost for me ahead of the long Asian Tour season. I’ll look to build on the gains from this victory.”
Malcolm Kokocinski (70-70-71-67) posted the day’s best score of five-under-67 to rise from overnight tied third to second place. The Swede registered six birdies and a bogey on Saturday. He enjoyed a run of four straight birdies from the 11th to the 14th.
India’s Shankar Das (73) finished third at nine-under-279 while Bangladesh’s Akbar Hossain (70) was a further two strokes back in fourth.
India’s Shamim Khan took fifth place at six-under-282.
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