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Bedfordshire’s Steve Lewton ended a 10-year wait to claim his second victory on the Asian Tour after winning the Mandiri Indonesia Open after a nail-biting play-off.
Experiencing the full gamut of emotions, the 41-year-old from Woburn, who joined the Asian Tour back in 2012, won with a birdie on the second extra hole against third-round leader Aaron Wilkin from Australia and Chinese rookie pro Sampson Zheng.
Lewton started the final round one behind Wilkin, and playing in the penultimate pairing with Zheng and another Chinese golfer, Liu Yanwei. His bid for glory began with three birdies in a row from the fifth and another on nine to go out in four-under. Another birdie followed on 10, before the drama started with bogeys on 13 and 14.
Lewton still looked on course to win in regulation play when he birdied 16 and 17 at Damai Indah Golf Course in Jakarta for a two-shot lead, but he made a damaging double-bogey on the par-four 18th, where his drive landed in a hazard left of the tee.
Sudden death play-off
He returned a three-under 68 for a tournament total of 16-under, while Zheng shot the same score and Wilkin a 69 to send the tournament into a three-man sudden death play-off.
When they returned to the 18th they all made bogey, with Lewton coming closest to making a par when missing a four-footer.
Lewton nearly found the hazard again on the second extra hole, but his ball was fortunate to stop on a cart path. He capitalised on that big slice of luck and hit his second to eight feet. He duly made the putt to register one of the year’s most popular wins. Zheng nearly chipped in for a birdie, while Wilkin missed his three from 12 feet.
Lewton, whose maiden win came at the Taiwan Masters in 2014, two years after he first started playing on the Asian Tour, said: “It’s been a long, long time since I’ve had that winning feeling. I have been second in this tournament for the past two years, and I feel it owed me one. I feel like I’ve been playing quite well over the last two or three seasons, so it’s just nice to finally get one over the line and win a tournament again.”
Speaking about his final round, he added: “I got through 10 holes, and I felt like I was kind of coasting. And then I made it difficult again with those dropped shots on 13 and 14, and then I birdied 16 and 17, and then I had a mini disaster on 18. I was just very happy to get it done the second time of asking in the play-off, and I am delighted not to have finished second again!”
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