Overnight leader Chan Shih-chang of Chinese Taipei was declared the winner of the US$120,000 Ambassador ADT after officials canceled the fourth and final round due to inclement weather on Sunday.
Chan, who signed for a third round four-under-par 68, broke his own record on the burgeoning Tour after claiming his fifth ADT victory with a winning total of 12-under-par 204 at the Hsin Feng Golf and Country Club, where he has been honing his skills for the past 13 years.
Local stalwart Lin Wen-tang, who is also playing on his home course, settled four shots back of Chan in second place while Hsieh Tung-hung, also of Chinese Taipei, took third place at the Ambassador ADT, which is the 11thleg of the 2015 ADT season.
The final round of the Ambassador ADT, originally scheduled to start at 7.20am local time, was first delayed till 8.00am and then 8.30am before officials subsequently announced the cancelation of the fourth round at 9.10am.
“After deliberation, the organising committee has decided to cancel the final round due to continuous heavy rain which is expected to last throughout the day and conditions were deemed unplayable,” said Jittisak Tamprasert, Asian Tour Tournament Director.
The Ambassador ADT has been shortened to 54-holes and overnight leader Chan has been declared the winner of the tournament,” added Jittisak.
Chan took home the winner’s prize purse of US$21,000 and received six Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) points following his victory.
“I’m very happy to win the tournament which is held on my home course where I have been playing since I was a young kid. The weather hasn’t been good this week so I am very happy with how I’ve played,” said the 28-year-old Chan, who just won in China last week.
“It’s great to set a new record on the ADT. I hope I can keep improving. I will continue to work hard in future and work towards my next goal of winning on the Asian Tour. My game’s been good. I think I have good chances of winning on Asian Tour in the near future. Playing on the ADT has helped a lot,” added Chan.
Lin was disappointed for not being able to post a challenge to Chan in the final round but tipped his hat off to Chan for being a deserving winner.
“It’s a pity actually. I thought I might have the chance to try and beat Chan today. But it’s all good. I am happy for Chan. He played very well this week,” said the 40-year-old Lin.
American duo Micah Lauren Shin and Sam Cyr finished in fourth place on 213 total while
Singapore’s Choo Tze Huang, American Blake Snyder and Chinese Taipei’s Tseng Hong-sheng settled one shot back in sixth following third rounds 72, 75 and 70 respectively.
Since it was inaugurated in 2010, the ADT has grown from five events in the first year to a record 21 tournaments in both 2014 and 2015.
With the Olympic Games looming in 2016 where golf will be reintroduced as a medal sport, players in the region could earn their spots in Rio de Janeiro by earning Official World Golf Ranking points through the Asian Tour and ADT.
For more information on the ADT, please visit www.asiandevelopmenttour.com
Leading third (final) round scores:
204 – CHAN Shih-chang (TWN) 69-67-68
208 – LIN Wen-tang (TWN) 70-67-71
212 – HSIEH Tung-hung (TWN0 72-72-68
213 – Micah Lauren SHIN (USA) 72-70-71, Sam CYR (USA) 72-69-72
214 – TSENG Hong-sheng (TWN) 74-70-70, CHOO Tze Huang (SIN) 71-71-72, Blake SNYDER (USA) 72-67-75
215 – TSAI Chi-huang (TWN) 69-77-69, Casey O’toole (YSA) 74-69-72, HSIEH Chi-hsien (TWN) 70-71-74
216 – WANG Ter-chang (TWN) 77-71-68, CHAN Yih-shin (TWN) 74-72-70, Nirun SAE-UENG (THA) 74-71-71, Darren TAN (AUS) 70-74-72, LIN Chien-bing (TWN) 70-73-73, LU Wei-chih (TWN) 69-74-73
