Mardan Mamat wins Bangladesh Open

DHAKA: Veteran Singapore golfer Mardan Mamat capped a dominant performance over the four days to win the inaugural Bangladesh Open by two strokes in Dhaka on Saturday.
The 47-year-old, who said he was inspired by an encouraging message from his wife Naz, shot a two-under-par 69 to finish with a combined score of 14-under 270 at the Kurmitola Golf Club.
It was Mamat’s fifth Asian Tour title, which earned him the winner’s purse of $54,000 after he led in all four rounds of the $300,000 event in the Bangladeshi capital.
Khalin Joshi of India shot a 68 in the final round to end with 272 and tie for second place with Lee Soo-Min of South Korea, who posted a 67 on the last day.
Mamat, keeping himself composed in the stifling heat, bogeyed the fourth hole to have his overnight lead of three shots reduced by one, but then stayed on course to claim what he said was a “special win.”
“I’m the first winner of the Bangladesh Open so this is a special win,” he said. “I talked to my wife last night and she sent me a message saying ‘You are the champion, you are the winner and you are the man’.
“That really inspired me today.
“I have improved a lot on my mental game. I talk a lot to myself to motivate myself to play well. In fact, my wife and I have been talking a lot about my game and confidence.
“She always inspires me and feeds me positive thoughts. I’m very pleased with that.”
Leading scores after the final round at the par-71 Kurmitola Golf Course:
270 — Mardan Mamat (SIN) 66-67-68-69
272 — Khalin Joshi (IND) 71-68-65-68, Lee Soo-Min (KOR) 70-70-65-67
273 — Carlos Pigem (ESP) 67-67-73-66
275 — Janne Kaske (FIN) 68-67-71-69
277 — Chinnarat Phadungsil (THA) 74-67-69-67
278 — Thaworn Wiratchant (THA) 70-72-70-66, Berry Henson (USA) 71-67-71-69, Amardip Malik (IND) 67-74-68-69, Panuphol Pittayarat (THA) 69-66-72-71

Rookie Curran in tie for lead at weather-hit Byron Nelson
PGA Tour rookie Jon Curran capitalzed on a fast start and some pinpoint iron shots to surge into a three-way tie for the lead in the weather-disrupted second round of the AT&T Byron Nelson in Irving, Texas on Friday.
While Masters champion Jordan Spieth also charged into contention after struggling on the greens in his opening round, Curran set the early pace by firing a six-under-par 63 at the rain-saturated TPC Four Seasons Resort Las Colinas.
“I got off to a pretty good start, hit some really close iron shots and I made some good 10 or 15-foot putts for birdie,” Curran told reporters.
That left the 28-year-old at nine-under 130, where he was joined later in the day by fellow American Jimmy Walker (66) and overnight leader Steven Bowditch of Australia (68).
Walker and Bowditch did well to finish in fading light after the start to the second round had been delayed by three hours because of water-logged conditions caused by 4.5 inches of rainfall overnight.
“Didn’t want to have to get up early (on Saturday)... it will be nice to sleep in little bit,” said Walker.
Thirty-three players will have to complete the second round on Saturday morning, though further thunderstorms are expected overnight on Friday.
American Ryan Palmer (66) and Australian Cameron Percy (64) were at eight under with local favorite and world number two Spieth a further two shots back after carding a 64.
“I had a lot of short birdie putts today,” said Spieth after piling up seven birdies, three of them on his last three holes, and two bogeys. “I zeroed in on the targets nicely.
“The finish was certainly nice. For the middle of that round, I was only hanging around one or two under and to be able to close at five under on the day puts me in contention.”
Grounds crews worked hard in the morning to prepare the course for play, though the par-four 14th had to be shortened to a par-three measuring just 104 yards because of an unplayable fairway.