Faldo

Singapore, June 24, 2009:  Lam Zhiqun shot a brilliant final round 69 to win the Faldo Series Singapore Championship at the Singapore Island Country Club today and claim a place in the Faldo Series Asia Grand Final.

Lam received the trophy from the Asian Tour’s Executive Chairman Kyi Hla Han after he added a three-under-par 69 to his overnight leading score of 71 on the SICC’s Island Course.  The Singapore national player was pushed all the way by Koh Dengshan who finished one shot behind on a three-under-par total of 141 which included a tournament-best second round of 68.

Lam can now look forward to spending time with six-time Major winner Nick Faldo during the Grand Final at China’s Mission Hills Golf Club in March 2010.  He will be accompanied by Joshua Ho who claimed the boys’ under-16 category on the second hole of a sudden-death play-off having tied with Ching Hong Zheng on 145.  Also travelling to Mission Hills will be girls’ winner Joey Poh who finished two ahead of last year’s finalist Kok Jo Ee on 151.

Supported by UBS, Mission Hills and The R&A, over 40 of Singapore’s most talented young golfers, boys and girls aged 12 to 21, were competing in the Singapore Championship.  As part of Nick Faldo’s unique formula to help develop tomorrow’s champions, competitors experienced strict tournament conditions on the course while off the course they attended a golf fitness workshop with golf physiotherapist K H Poon and a Q&A with Kyi Hla Han.

Endorsed by the Asian Tour and the Asia Pacific Golf Confederation, over 30 younger children from the First Tee Foundation in Singapore also attended the Faldo Series tournament.  They received free coaching and watched the competitors in action, part of Faldo’s drive to simultaneously create access to the sport at a grass-roots level.

The Singapore Championship was the second of 15 Faldo Series Asia tournaments in 12 different countries during 2009/2010, including four in mainland China plus one in each of Bahrain, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, The Philippines and Vietnam.

With over 1,000 competitors taking part and many more being introduced to the game, the climax of the season will be the fourth Grand Final in March 2010, an R&A World Amateur Golf Ranking event.  As well as spending time with Faldo, over 60 finalists from across the region will compete for five invites to the Faldo Series Grand Final in Brazil plus the opportunity to play in a flagship Asian Tour or Ladies European Tour event for the overall boy and girl champion.

Hoping to win a hat-trick of Faldo Series Asia titles this season will be Rashid Khan of India.  In March 2009 at Mission Hills, the 18-year-old from Delhi became the first player to successfully defend his Faldo Series Asia crown, replicating European Tour stars Nick Dougherty and Oliver Fisher, both of whom have been back-to-back winners of the Faldo Series in Europe since its launch in 1996.

Leading final scores:  Boys’ under-21: 140 – Lam Zhiqun (71, 69); 141 – Koh Dengshan (73, 68); 148 – Kenji Cheung (74, 74); 149 – Johnson Poh (77, 72).  Boys’ under-16: 145 – Joshua Ho (72, 73), Chung Hong Zheng (71, 74); 146 – Gregory Foo (73, 73); 149 – Leon Chen (76, 73).  Girls’ under-21: 151 – Joey Poh (75, 76); 153 – Kok Jo Ee (76, 77); 154 – Koh Sock Hwee (82, 72).