First Charles Tour win for Chung

AUCKLAND professional Joonsang Chung charged through to claim a twoshot win in the Taranaki Open as the overnight leaders fell by the wayside at New Plymouth yesterday.

The 28-year-old bagged his first-ever Charles Tour victory posting a 72-hole total of 279 – nine-under par – to beat South Korean professional Woonchul Na on 281.

Chung started the final day four shots behind Tauranga’s Kieran Muir and mounted his challenge on the back nine as his fired a four-under closing round 68.

While Muir struggled in the blustery conditions, dropping back to the chasing pack, Chung ground things out before running hot with the putter late in his round.

A birdie three from the rough on the difficult par-four 13th took him to eight under for the tournament and he almost made it to nine under when he lipped out on the par-three 14th.

Chung then one-putted the last four greens for a par, birdie, par, par finish. And they weren’t easy putts with the pressure on – the first from five foot, the second from eight foot, the third from six foot and the last from three foot to save par on the easy par-five finishing hole.

‘‘I just hung in there. Those clutch putts on the last four holes were key,’’ he said afterwards. ‘‘I putted well all week. I was pretty confident on the greens and knew if I could go under par for four rounds I could win.’’

Hamilton amateur Luke Brown from the Pines Club finished in a tie for third with veteran New Zealand professional Simon Owen and Waikato professional Jim Cusdin.

Josh Geary’s stranglehold on the PGA Tour of China continues, winning his third event from seven starts. Geary led the tour’s order of merit heading into the Yulongwan Yunnan Open in the Yunnan Province, and victory yesterday will see him open up a sizeable margin at the top as he chases