Doha: South Korea’s Wang Jeung-Hun squandered an overnight three-shot lead but held his nerve to win a tense and thrilling Qatar Masters in a play-off on Sunday.
Wang, on his first ever appearance at Doha, holed a five foot putt on the first play-off hole to secure a hard-fought victory over South Africa’s Jaco Van Zyl and Sweden’s Joakim Lagergren.
The trio had all finished sixteen-under-par to force the play-off.
“It feels really fantastic for me, it’s really, really great,” said a jubilant Wang afterwards.
He also admitted that it was the most nervous he had ever been on a golf course.
“I got nervous like crazy on the back nine. I missed every iron I made.”
The victory is Wang’s third European Tour event title and confirms his growing potential as he has already been tipped by some as a future Major winner. It also increases his chances of being ranked in the top 50 players in the world and making this year’s US Masters.
He started the week in Doha ranked No. 60 in the world.
With the victory coming at the age of 21 years and 144 days, he also become the youngest ever winner of the Qatar event. Former US Masters winner Adam Scott was the previous youngest, who was a 100 days older when he won in 2002.
The South Korean had come agonisingly close to winning in regulation, leaving a birdie putt, which would have clinched victory, an inch short on the 18th.
With that miss there seemed a growing certainty that Wang’s day was not going to end in victory.
He had started Sunday three shots ahead of a large chasing pack and two birdies on the first two holes seemed to indicate that he would not be daunted by the pressure of leading.
But as the finishing line approached and the weather deteriorated, he tensed up bogeying the 14th and 17th holes and making just one birdie on the par-four 16th,
His rivals smelled blood and Wang was pursued not only by Van Zyl and Lagergren, but also France’s Mike Lorenzo-Vera and South Africa’s Thomas Aiken who all shared the lead at one point in a tight finish.
