San and Aretha win Northport titles at Glenmarie

Paul San captured his first Professional Golf of Malaysia (PGM) Tour title and Aretha Pan won her first of the season when they triumphed at the Northport Championship 2022 at Glenmarie Golf and Country Club in Shah Alam, Selangor.

San, who pulled off the victory just four days before his 26th birthday, etching out a four-stroke win, while Aretha coasted to a comfortable six-shot winning margin.

San, who turned pro in 2019 and had his plans for progression curtailed by the Covid-19 pandemic, finished with a 13-under-par 203 total in the 54-hole tournament.

He collected RM21,000 for his week’s work and left Daeng Abdul Rahman to settle for second place and the runner’s-up cheque of RM13,000.

Khor Kheng Hwai and Galven Green shared third place on seven-under 209, while Ben Leong was fifth on five-under 211.

Amir Nazrin finished sixth on four-under 212, while R. Nachimuthu and Sukree Othman shot 214 and 215, respectively, for seventh and eighth place.

Rizal Amin’s one-over 217 earned him the ninth spot and Kemarol Baharin, who finished with 218, closed out the top-10.

San, delighted with his breakthrough win as a pro, said: “This is absolutely great. I have worked long and hard to get here and I’m really, really happy to have won.

“I contented here (at Glenmarie) twice before, and so I suppose it’s the ‘third time’s a charm’ thing.”

Looking back on the game that secured him his maiden PGM Tour title, San added: “I’ve been playing well recently and knew deep inside that if I could stay in the present and focus I could give myself another chance, and I did that.

“It isn’t easy, though. There are a lot of good players in the field. But I kept to my task and played my own game, and I think that’s what helped me through it.”

Aretha, a multiple winner on tour, admitted that she didn’t feel like she played her best, but that her short game rescued her.

All the same, she said she was pleased with the result.

“I believe I played well overall this season, but I lost some feel and rhythm this week. And if it wasn’t for my short-game I would have struggled a lot more.

“But I’m happy I won here,”said the Sabah player, who also has two third-place finishes this season to her credit.

“The course was in good condition, as it so often is. The greens were fast and a little hard, but with a true roll. And I like to play on greens like these,” she said.

Indeed, she must, as she won this week, as did San, who secured his breakthrough victory here.