Lin seals Hong Kong Open title

In a dramatic climax, the winner edges out Rory McIlroy and Francesco Molinari

HONG KONG: Taiwan’s Lin Wen-tang birdied the second playoff hole to become the Hong Kong Open’s first Asian winner in a decade on Sunday.

Wen-tang, Rory McIlroy and Francesco Molinari had finished the co-sanctioned tournament on 15 under. Italy’s Molinari was the first to be eliminated on the opening extra hole when he could manage only a par-four on the 18th before a packed gallery.

Lin appeared to blow his chances on the same hole when he pulled a drive into the rough. However, he nailed an audacious 150-yard wedge shot through a tiny gap in the trees to land his approach to within six feet of the pin and made a birdie to force a second-hole playoff with Northern Ireland’s McIlroy. “At first I didn’t know what to do...but I told myself to do my best to hit this shot towards the green and maybe God helped me, because I made it,” Lin said.

On the next hole, the 18th again, McIlroy scuffed his drive into the left rough, while Lin drove straight down the fairway and chipped to within inches of the cup to set up his biggest victory. The last Asian to win the Hong Kong Open was South Korea’s Kang Wook-soon in 1998.

Lin had earlier squandered a chance to win the tournament in regulation play, missing a short birdie putt on the 18th after a brilliant approach left him a few feet short of the cup.

The 34-year-old, who turned professional in 1996, is one of the island’s top golfers with three Asian Tour victories under his belt. Overnight leader Oliver Wilson again failed to live up to his promise and clinch a first professional win, the Briton fading over the back nine to finish a disappointing sixth.