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Himmat best Indian at tied 19th in Manila

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Press Trust of India Manila
Himmat Rai carded two-under 70 in the final round of to finish tied 19th, best Indian result, in the Solaire Open here today.

The young Indian, who was hit by the second round 76 ended the week at five-over 290, while Lin Wen-tang of Chinese Taipei produced a heroic performance to win his long-awaited sixth Asian Tour title.

Lin (73) finished at three-under 285 to win by one shot over Richard Lee (69) and Thammanoon Sriroj (73).

Among the other Indians, Abhinav Lohan (73) aggregated six-over 291 and finished tied 25th, while Rahil Gangjee, in the top-10 after second round, slipped over the weekend, to 75 and 77 and ended at eight-over 296 in tied 41st place, while Sujjan Singh (79) was tied 73rd.
 

Lin, nicknamed 'Linsanity of Golf', hit two remarkable shots on 17 and 18 from the woods for a one-over-par 73 to defeat Asian Tour rookie Richard T. Lee of Canada and Thammanoon Sriroj of Thailand by one stroke at the Wack Wack Golf and Country Club.

Lee battled to a 69 for his best Asian Tour result while Thammanoon's title hopes faded when he bogeyed 16 and 18 for a 73 at the inaugural US$300,000 full field Asian Tour event.

Korea's Wang Jeung-hun (69) finished a further shot back while Elmer Salvador (74) settled as the best placed Filipino in fifth position on the region's premier Tour, which is celebrating its 10th season.

Lin, who trailed Thammanoon heading into the 17th hole, hit his tee shot into the woods but calmly punched out with a nine iron (90 yards to the green) before sinking his second birdie of the day. His second shot on 18 hit the branches but he recovered with a miraculous low punch shot to set up a 15 feet par putt, which he holed for the win.

His dramatic feat on the last two holes mirrored his previous victory at the 2008 Hong Kong Open where he also needed to hit it over the trees to stay alive in a playoff with Rory McIlroy.

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First Published: Apr 14 2013 | 9:40 PM IST

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