Wade Ormsby showed his mettle again in Asia. The Australian, at 45 years old, was crowned at the Jakarta International Championship after defeating Scott Vincent on the first playoff hole, a treacherous 18th (par 4) where the Zimbabwean found the water on his second shot and Ormsby made a textbook par that was worth a title. Fifth victory for the Australian on the Asian Tour and second within The International Series.
The day was a fierce battle. Ormsby chased Vincent all day with a crowded leaderboard and chances for half a dozen players. On the 72nd hole, the Australian forced the playoff with a crucial two-and-a-half-meter putt for par, after Vincent left the door ajar with a bogey on the 16th and a missed two-meter birdie putt on the 17th. Both closed with 69 (-1) to tie at -12 before the playoff.
The triumph holds double value for Ormsby. It comes right after a one-stroke penalty on Saturday for moving the ball while addressing it on the 4th hole, a slip that cost him the lead, although he managed it with a cool head in the final. “I didn’t have my best game, but I held on,” he acknowledged. With this victory, he moves to fifth in the Asian Tour Order of Merit and third in The International Series ranking.
Behind, one stroke from the playoff, were Kieran Vincent (67), Korean Doyeob Mun (67), and the Thai trio of Pavit Tangkamolprasert (68), Poom Saksansin (69), and Sadom Kaewkanjana (69). Kieran was close to the playoff but also found the water on the 18th and finished with a bogey. For his brother Scott Vincent, who had just won an International Series in Morocco and finished second at the Shinhan Donghae Open, this runner-up finish also returns him to the top of both the Asian Tour Order of Merit and The International Series ranking.
The Spaniard: Rousaud, narrowly out
There was Spanish representation in Jakarta with Eduard Rousaud, who did not make the cut after a two-round total of +2 (72-70). He ended up four strokes short of making the weekend. A double bogey on the 9th hole on the second day was a very difficult setback to overcome, although the Barcelona golfer, true to his DNA, never gave up.
The Asian Tour now takes a week off before the SJM Macao Open and a final stretch of the calendar with eight consecutive tournaments that promise a fierce battle for the two major circuit rankings and, incidentally, a chance to earn a spot in LIV Golf, although they have not yet officially clarified how the spots for the lucrative Saudi circuit will be distributed.
