Published July 17, 2008 on July 15, 2018

A Successful Outing for Harding at the Bank BRI Indonesia Open

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Justin Harding of South Africa put an exclamation point on the closely contested final day, as he carded a one-under-par 71 to win his maiden Asian Tour title at the US$500,000 Bank BRI Indonesia Open on Sunday.

The 32-year-old, who missed only three greens-in-regulation before the final round, uncharacteristically dropped two shots on holes seven and eight. However, he bounced back when it mattered with two birdies before emerging victorious with an 18-under-par 270 total at the Pondok Indah Golf Course.

He said,”I’m thrilled with the victory. I came here not knowing what to expect. I’ve been playing nicely the whole year. I like the golf course and it was set up quite nicely for me. You can’t get too aggressive on it. Manage distances and make some putts here and there. I didn’t expect to win, and it was to have done so.”

Zimbabwe’s Scott Vincent transferred the pressure to Harding early in the round after firing three consecutive birdies on the second, third and fourth hole. But he lost the advantage after dropping three shots at the sixth, ninth and 10th. He eventually ended the week in second place, his fifth top-10 finish this year.

Thailand’s Chapchai Nirat and United States’ Sihwan Kim shared third place after carding 68 and 69 respectively. Gaganjeet Bhullar of India is one shot behind the duo, in lone fifth place.

Johannes Veerman (66), who led the tournament after the opening round, ended his tournament with a flourish. He grabbed a share of sixth place, along with India’s Udayan Mane and Thailand’s Natipong Srithong.

Harding will be taking up Asian Tour membership after his win at the Bank BRI Indonesia Open. The current Sunshine Tour Order of Merit leader was playing in the tournament on an invite.

“I’m glad to have avoided Q-School! I’m looking forward to playing on Tour, but I’ll have to look at the schedule and shift some things around. I’m just happy to get an opportunity from the Asian Tour to play here and I’m glad it all worked out fine,” said Harding.

 

Scores after round 4

270 – Justin HARDING (RSA) 67-66-66-71.

271 – Scott VINCENT (ZIM) 69-66-66-70.

272 – Chapchai NIRAT (THA) 69-67-68-68, Sihwan KIM (USA) 69-67-67-69.

273 – Gaganjeet BHULLAR (IND) 69-67-69-68.

274 – Johannes VEERMAN (USA) 66-72-70-66, Natipong SRITHONG (THA) 68-65-73-68, Udayan MANE (IND) 67-68-69-70.

275 – Rattanon WANNASRICHAN (THA) 70-65-74-66, Maverick ANTCLIFF (AUS) 68-71-68-68.

276 – Jbe KRUGER (RSA) 68-72-67-69, Matthew MILLAR (AUS) 66-68-70-72.

277 – Steven JEFFRESS (AUS) 72-70-68-67, Khalin JOSHI (IND) 67-68-71-71, Angelo QUE (PHI) 69-68-67-73.

279 – Heungchol JOO (KOR) 71-71-71-66, Michael LONG (NZL) 72-71-71-65, Jack HARRISON (ENG) 72-68-71-68, Mark BROWN (NZL) 72-70-67-70.

280 – Prom MEESAWAT (THA) 72-68-71-69, Ben CAMPBELL (NZL) 70-69-71-70, Daniel FOX (AUS) 69-73-68-70, Miguel CARBALLO (ARG) 70-72-68-70, Doyeob MUN (KOR) 69-71-69-71, Masaru TAKAHASHI (JPN) 68-72-69-71, Jarin TODD (USA) 74-67-68-71.