Jeunghun Wang made it back-to-back European Tour wins as he came out on top in a final day battle with Siddikur Rahman to claim the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open.
Siddikur came into the final day with a one-shot lead over Wang and had extended that to three as he stood on the 16th tee, but he dropped three shots in two holes to leave the duo going up the last locked together on five under.
A birdie for Wang after a brilliant bunker shot then handed the South Korean a one-shot victory, just seven days after he had won his maiden title at the Trophée Hassan II in Morocco. The 20 year old required a birdie on the last at Royal Golf Dar Es Salam to get into a play-off last week but when Siddikur missed his effort after an excellent chip, one was enough to hand Wang a triumph in the Indian Ocean.
The win makes Wang the first player to win in consecutive weeks since Rory McIlroy claimed the WGC Bridgestone Invitational followed by the US PGA Championship in 2014 and he also becomes the first Asian player to win in consecutive weeks. I can’t believe that I’ve won two weeks in a row. I’m so excited right now and really happy that I have won – Jeunghun Wang “I hope I can win three in a row, but next week is a really big tournament and it’s my first time in Ireland, so I’m not sure. I’ll be trying my best. “I probably had luck on my side today. I wasn’t even thinking about winning this week until the 16th. I missed a lot of putts so I thought I didn’t have any chance to win. “Of course I would love to make the Olympics. It’s crazy because I wasn’t even thinking about it until last weekend. It would be an honour to represent my country in Rio but I will have to play very well until then to qualify.”
Wang and Siddikur were the only two players to finish under par after a tough week for scoring at Four Seasons Golf Club at Anahita, with Nicolas Colsaerts and Estanislao Goya at level par, a shot clear of Andrew Dodt. Both men made early bogeys but a beautiful tee-shot on the par three fifth handed the Bangladeshi a birdie and when he put his approach to the sixth to 18 feet and holed an excellent putt, the lead was three.
Playing partner Wang needed three shots to find the green after his tee-shot ended up on an awkward slope and when he missed his par putt, the two-shot swing put Siddikur firmly in control.
Wang then used his length advantage over Siddikur to drive over the ninth green and make a birdie and when the latter missed a short putt on the 12th, the pressure was building for the last six holes.
A three-putt bogey from Wang followed on the 14th but Siddikur lost his ball off the 16th tee and a double-bogey followed before a three-putt on the 17th set up the late drama.
Argentina’s Goya birdied the 15th and the last to sign for a 71 and move up into third as many of those that had started the day near the top of the leaderboard fell back. Colsaerts signed for a wild 75 which contained an eagle and three double-bogeys while Dodt’s 76 left him a shot clear of Brandon Stone. Rahil Gangjee, Richard McEvoy, Ross McGowan, Terry Pilkadaris and Jason Scrivener were then all at three over.