PHUKET: India's Jyoti Randhawa fired a five-under 65 in Sunday's final round to clinch a two-stroke victory in the Thailand Open. Randhawa finished with a total of 17-under 263 to take out the new Asian Tour event at the Laguna Phuket Golf Club.
Welshman Rhys Davies (67) was runner-up in the $500,000 event, finishing ahead of Taiwan's Lu Wei-chih (65). Randhawa attributed his eighth Asian Tour win to a more relaxed approach, having used his preparation to frolic at the seaside rather than work on his game.
"I need to relax a bit and chill out," Randhawa said. "I came her, I swam, I went scuba diving and I enjoyed myself, and here I am, I've won a golf tournament.
"I learned a lot and I need to do this more often."
Davies was in contention for his first tour title until he bogeyed the par-5 17th.
"Jyoti played great," Davies said. "He hit a number of great shots and a few good putts at the right time and that was the difference."
Lu closed steadily all day, but also ruined his chances with a bogey at 17.
"I didn't think about winning all day long, but when I was two back I thought of giving it a push, but hit a poor shot on the 17th tee," Davies said.