Australian Wade Ormsby defeated Scott Vincent from Zimbabwe on the first hole of a sudden-death play-off today to win the Jakarta International Championship – following one of the closest finishes seen on the Asian Tour this season.
Ormsby triumphed after making a routine par on the par-four 18th, where Vincent found water with his second shot.
Ormsby trailed the frontrunner and playing partner Vincent all day, with a stacked leaderboard meaning the tournament could have been won by a whole host of players. A crucial eight-footer for par on the 18th by Ormsby in regulation play forced the event into overtime. Vincent had left the door open when he made a bogey on 16 and missed a six-foot birdie putt on 17.
Both Ormsby and Vincent shot one-under-par 69s to finish tied on 12-under.
Vincent’s brother Kieran (67) and Doyeob Mun (67) from Korea tied for third along with Thailand’s Pavit Tangkamolprasert (68), Poom Saksansin (69) and Sadom Kaewkanjana (69), missing the play-off by one shot.
Kieran Vincent came agonisingly close to making the play-off but also found water on 18 and made a bogey. It’s Ormsby’s fifth victory on the Asian Tour and second on The International Series. His last win came at the International Series Thailand in 2023.
The victory also made up for being penalised one shot after his round yesterday when he was judged to have accidentally moved his ball when he addressed it on the fourth. He’s also been enduring a poor season with his best being tied 21st at the International Series India.
“It was a bit of a grind,” said Ormsby, who hung in there by making nine straight pars on the back nine. “Probably didn’t have my best stuff out there today, but I was just hanging in there. Feel bad for Scotty, you know, he kind of let a couple slip at the end there. But I hit a couple of great shots in that play-off hole, so that makes me feel better about the whole thing.”
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On yesterday’s penalty shot, he said: “It was disappointing, you know, it is what it is. Decided to take a shot and, yeah. Anyway, I did reset last night, and I felt fine about it. I was happy to be in the last group, so that didn’t change. So no, I just had to go out there and put it to the back of my head and use it as a bit of a drive to get the job done today.
“It’s a special one for me this one. Haven’t been playing my best golf, had a few months off and worked hard the last week. I flew up and saw my coach, Grant Field, so a massive thank you to him. Flew up there, did the hard yards, and we had a day of grinding to try and get me back on track. And even though I didn’t play my best golf this week, I putted great early on in the tournament. And yeah, thanks to all my family obviously, lost my dad two years ago, so this one is for him.”
Ormsby moves into fifth place on the Asian Tour Order of Merit and third on The International Series Rankings. Vincent regained the lead over Japan’s Kazuki Higa on the Merit list – who finished in a tie for 33rd this week. He also goes top of The International Series Rankings, leapfrogging Lucas Herbert from Australia.
Vincent was attempting to become the first player to win back-to-back events on The International Series, having won the International Series Morocco in July.
It means he has now finished runner-up in his last two Asian Tour events as he was joint second in the Shinhan Donghae Open last month.
He said: “I don’t see it as disappointing at all. Wade played great golf, he hung in there and is a well-deserved champion. I had my chances to win, but I don’t think it’s ever fully in my control. I was struggling just to make the cut on day two, and to then have a chance to win on Sunday, I can’t ask for much more than that.”
The Asian Tour has a week off now before the SJM Macao Open and a run of eight successive events to close out the season.
Main Image: Asian Tour
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