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Looking Back
Iskandar Johor Open 2007 |
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Magnificent Murakami
Filipino Artemio Murakami chalks up maiden pro title in inaugural Iskandar Johor Open |
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Rising Filipino stat Artemio Murakami will forever remember the inaugural Iskandar Johor Open, staged at the Royal Johor Country Club last August.
Indeed, the tournament proved to be a life-changing event for the 24-year-old golfer of mixed Japanese and Filipino parentage, as he broke through for his maiden victory on the Asian Tour. Murakami came from two off the lead with a near-flawless closing 68 to take the title by one stroke from compatriot Tony Lascuna and the seasoned Scot, Simon Yates.
Murakami dedicated his win to Filipino veteran Frankie Minoza, a mentor and inspiration to many of the younger Filipino players.
“I really don’t know what to say, I’m speechless,” said the talented young golfer, who finished with a total of five-under 279 (70-72-69-68) on the challenging par 71 course. “I double-bogeyed the final hole on Saturday and I told Frankie over the phone that this was not going to be my week. But he said that there are 18 more holes to go and I should never give up. He told me that if I gave up, he would not talk to me. That was good advice as I did push hard today.”
Thailand-based Yates stormed up the leaderboard with a closing 67 to claim joint second place on 280 (71-70-72-67) with Lascuna (72-71-67-70). Taiwan’s Sung Mao-chang (69-75-68-69) and third round leader Gaurav Ghei of India (70-69-70-72) tied for fourth on 281.
The US$300,000 tournament attracted a high-quality field including Asian Tour Order of Merit leader Liang Wen-chong of China. Liang, 29, showed his class with a superb closing 66 – the best round of the tournament – to finish sixth on two-under 282 (68-74-74-66).
The tournament was plagued by rain and lightning which disrupted play on days two and four. Two weather interruptions on the last day saw Murakami’s final putt drop at around 5 pm, but fortunately the organizers managed to get the live telecast on ESPN StarSports extended beyond the original 2 pm to 4 pm time slot.
In the end, it was the tree-lined, 6,984-yard Royal Johor layout with its tight fairways, thick cowgrass rough and tricky greens that emerged as the real winner. Only seven players from the 156-strong field finished under-par and the cut came at five-over, which tied the highest cut for the 2007 Asian Tour. The average score over four rounds was 74.23 (3.23 over-par) and the long par four 11th hole ranked as the toughest hole, averaging 0.63 over-par. Royal Johor’s par four 18th hole also proved to be a tough nut to crack, averaging 4.38 over four rounds. The finishing hole played 452 yards uphill to a treacherous green, which slopes steeply against play.
There were 30 Malaysians in the starting field, consisting of 24 professionals and six amateurs. 12 of them made it into the tournament via a qualifying round held on August 19, led by R. Nachimuthu who topped the field with an even-par 71 score.
However, only four Malaysians made the halfway cut – 2007 Pakistan Open champion Airil Rizman, 2002 Taiwan Open champion Danny Chia, S. Sivachandran and a relatively new face on the local pro scene, 24-year-old Khor Kheng Hwai.
Airil went into the last round just three off the lead but failed to mount a challenge on the last day, closing with a 75 to tie for 16th on three-over 287 (71-69-72-75). Meanwhile, Sivachandran carded rounds of 74, 70, 72 and 71 to match Airil’s performance.
There were two Malaysian juniors in the mix, 16-year-old Mohd Iylia Jamil and 13-year-old Gavin Kyle Green. While neither made it to the weekend, both youngsters were ecstatic about the experience of playing in an Asian Tour event.
“It was a good experience and it’s very different from junior and amateur events,” said Iylia, who shot rounds of 78 and 75 to miss the cut by six strokes.
Gavin looked extremely nervous in the first round and struggled to an 88, but improved considerably on day two when he shot 76. He achieved his self-set post first round target of not finishing last, with two professionals propping up the leaderboard behind him.
“I am not sad because it was a good experience to play with professionals,” said Gavin. “I hope that I will get to play in more Asian Tour events.”
The success of the inaugural event saw all parties involved are looking forward to a bigger and better tournament in 2008.
“Next year’s tournament will be even bigger and better as we strive to make the Iskandar Johor Open one of the foremost golf events in the Asia Pacific region,” said Malaysian Golf Association (MGA) president Tunku Abdul Majid Idris, who was the advisor to the organizing committee. “We are looking at a bigger prize purse and more star players to add more excitement to the event.”
Main sponsors, the Iskandar Regional Development Authority (IRDA), were pleased with how the inaugural event went.
“IRDA was given an opportunity to sponsor this event and we agreed because we want to establish the branding of IRDA,” said Dato’ Ikmal Hijaz Hashim, the chief executive officer of IRDA. “We start it up, maintain it and make the event big. Even if it means we have to work with others to increase prizemoney, we will do it. We have already taken the first step to establish the event.”
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| Results (Top 10 and Ties) |
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| POS. |
PLAYER |
R1 |
R2 |
R3 |
R4 |
| 279 |
Artemio MURAKAMI (PHI) |
70 |
72 |
69 |
68 |
| 280 |
Simon YATES (SCO) |
71 |
70 |
72 |
67 |
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Tony LASCUNA (PHI) |
72 |
71 |
67 |
70 |
| 281 |
SUNG Mao-chang (TPE) |
69 |
75 |
68 |
69 |
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Gaurav GHEI (IND) |
70 |
69 |
70 |
72 |
| 282 |
LIANG Wen-chong (CHN) |
68 |
74 |
74 |
66 |
| 283 |
LU Wen-Teh (TPE) |
70 |
72 |
71 |
70 |
| 284 |
Jason KNUTZON (USA) |
71 |
67 |
72 |
74 |
| 285 |
LIU Wen-Tang (TPE) |
71 |
71 |
75 |
68 |
| 286 |
Scott BARR (AUS) |
72 |
70 |
74 |
70 |
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Stephen SCAHILL (NZL) |
70 |
72 |
73 |
71 |
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KAO Bo-Song (TPE) |
75 |
70 |
70 |
71 |
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Gavin FLINT (AUS) |
73 |
73 |
67 |
73 |
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Gary SIMPSON (AUS) |
74 |
700 |
69 |
73 |
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Adam Le VESCONTE (AUS) |
72 |
69 |
69 |
76 |
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