PETALING JAYA: Nicholas Fung made it a birthday to remember when he used his intimate knowledge of the Sabah Golf and Country Club layout to carve out a scorching six-under 66 to win the inaugural Hilux Cup by three strokes in Kota Kinabalu yesterday.
Nicholas, who turned 33 yesterday, won with a three-day total of eight-under 208.
Aretha Pan and Ben Leong finished joint second, returning scores of three-under 69 and one-over 73 respectively for a 211 three-day aggregate.
Mirai Cup champion Ervin Chang finished sixth with a total of one-over 217.
Nicholas was in a joyous mood especially when his wife and daughter flew in from Kuala Lumpur to celebrate his birthday.
“I don’t know what to say ... my family, the large crowd of mostly Sabah Golf and Country Club members and the staff have been rooting for me and I guess this victory repays their support. It’s a wonderful birthday for me,” said Nicholas.
He started the day at two-under and was four strokes behind overnight joint leaders Ben, and Galven Green.
Nicholas eventually took the outright lead after notching three birdies in a row on the 13th, 14th and 15th holes.
He went on to finish his round with a birdie on the par-five 18th. For his first victory on the Toyota Tour, Nicholas pocketed a cool RM31,500.
Nicholas will be heading for Taiwan to compete in a tour event there next week while Ervin, Paul San, Galven and Shahriffuddin Ariffin leave for Phuket for an Asian Development Tour event.
The Hilux Cup is the third leg of the Toyota Tour. The next event will be the Vios Cup at Templer Park Country Club from June 20-22.
208: Nicholas Fung 72-70-66; 211: Aretha Pan 71-71-69, Ben Leong 68-70-73; 212: Galven Green 70-68-74; 214: Wilson Choo 72-70-72; 217: Ervin Chang 67-78,72; 218: Paul San 74-72-72, Shahriffuddin Ariffin 71-74-73.
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