Yeh Wei-tze of Taiwan followed in the illustrious footsteps of his famous compatriot, Lu Liang Huan (Mr Lu) by becoming only the second player from that country to win a European Tour title when he captured the Benson & Hedges Malaysian Open, presented by Carlsberg, at Templer Park Country Club, Kuala Lumpur.
The 26 year old shot a closing 69 for a ten under par total of 278 to claim his first title as a professional by one stroke from Ireland’s Padraig Harrington (70), Craig Hainline of America (67) and South African Des Terblanche (68).
In doing so, Yeh joined Mr Lu as a champion on the European Tour. The man who finished runner-up to Lee Trevino in the 1971 Open Championship at Royal Birkdale went on to win the French Open at Biarritz the following week. Now Yeh has managed to emulate his mentor and inspiration.
“Mr Lu had a big influence on my career” said Yeh. “He taught me for four or five years and I learned a lot from him. He taught me that you have to enjoy the game – not just win, win, win. You must have fun in golf.”
He added: “Honestly I cannot believe this at all. I never thought I could win. This is the most glorious moment in my career because it is my first win as a professional.”
Yeh is only the third Asian golfer to win on the European Tour. Mr Lu blazed the trail in the seventies and Japan’s Isao Aoki became the second title winner when he captured the European Open at Sunningdale in 1983.
The former caddie at Ta Shee Golf Club in Taiwan held a three shot lead playing the last, but almost came to grief after a drive into rough. He overshot the green with his third shot and chipped strongly. However with two putts he finished on 10 under, one better than his closest challengers.
Yeh added: “When I stood on the 17th tee I was very, very nervous and after a poor tee shot, I made a beautiful chip to save par. Then on the last I knew if I made a double bogey I would almost certainly still win, so I played safe.”
The finish was especially frustrating for Harrington, who had not won since 1996 and collected no fewer than four second place finishes in 1999. He led, or shared the lead, for much of the last afternoon, but bogeyed the 15th, 17th and 18th – three mistakes which even a birdie at the 16th could not enable him to overcome.
A dejected Harrington said: “It was a weak finish. I lost my focus coming down the stretch. I am disappointed but it’s better than the last two weeks when I missed the cut. I would love to say I’m tired of finishing second, but if I finished third I would want to finish second!”
The birdie on the 16th had momentarily restored parity at the top of the leaderboard with both Yeh and Harrington on 11 under par. However the Taiwanese player holed from 15 feet for a birdie of his own at the 16th to move in front once more, and Harrington’s errors sealed the issue.
South Africa’s Nico Van Rensburg reached the last needing a birdie to tie, but his bold approach finished on the fringe and he bogeyed for a share of fifth place on 280, eight under par.
Hainline, meanwhile, fired a best of the day 67 to climb the leaderboard and he tied with Harrington and Terblanche, who had a putt on the 18th to match his 67 but mis-read the putt and settled for a 68 and a tie for second place.
Indian Open champion, Arjun Atwal, tied for ninth having led the tournament for the first two rounds with a 65 and 70. Van Rensburg was second at halfway on 136 after emulating Atwal’s 65, but in his second round. Thailand’s Thongchai Jaidee moved ahead after 54 holes with a 68 which earned him a one stroke lead over the field. However a final 79 left him in 29th place.
