As expected, Singaporean veteran golfer Mardan Mamat, inspired by his wife’s special message, fired a two-under-par 69 in the 4th and last round to cruise to a two-shot victory at the US$300,000 Bashundhara Bangladesh Open Golf concluded at the Kurmitola Golf Course here on Saturday.
Among the Bangladeshi golfers, Shakhawat Sohel topped the list sharing the 19th place with two other golfers firing two-under par 282, Dulal Hossain, Dil Mohammad and Siddikur Rahman shared the 38th place with nine other players scoring four-over-par 288, Sajib Ali ranked 63rd with one player making eight-over-par 292 while Nur Jamal was placed 68th with four others scoring twelve-over-par 296.
Mardan Mamat, a 47-year-old completed a wire-to-wire win with a 14-under-par 270 total to win his fifth Asian Tour title and lift the unique trophy which was designed in the form of Bangladesh’s national animal, the Royal Bengal Tiger.
Khalin Joshi of India shot a 68 to tie for second place alongside Korea’s Soomin Lee, who posted a 67 at the Kurmitola Golf Club for their best result on the Asian Tour so far.
The day belonged to Mardan, who kept calm and composed in the heat. His overnight three-shot lead was reduced to one stroke after he bogeyed the fourth hole but he steadied ship with a pair of birdies from hole five before adding another birdie on the 12th hole.
“I’m the first Bashundhara Bangladesh Open winner so this is a special win. I talked to my wife (Naz) last night and she sent me a message saying ‘You are the champion, you are the winner and you are the man’. That really inspired me today,” said an emotional Mardan, who won US$54,000.
