No stopping veteran Mardan

When a five-shot lead dwindled to three, there was hope. So thought the hunter Choo Tze Huang, who had scooped two straight birdies on the 14th and 15th holes.

When his tee-shot landed on the fringe of the par-three 16th hole, 10 feet away, there was further hope. So thought Choo and the onlookers.

But when his birdie dream fizzled into a shocking bogey, all hopes vanished into the light breeze at the par-four 17th.

For the hunted was Mardan Mamat, the cool and composed Singapore No. 1, who seldom falters from such a pivotal position against his compatriots.

Mardan certainly obliged with a wire-to-wire victory, even if he misjudged the strength of the headwind with his approach and found the greenside bunker on the par-four 17th.

A surprise bogey was his result, but the battle-hardened veteran maintained his composure.

Eventually Mardan, who had earlier bagged three birdies, won by three shots from Choo after being the only player to register three sub-par rounds for his seven-under 206 total.

"Congrats, Uncle Mardan", said Choo as the final flight ambled back to the Warren Golf & Country Club clubhouse, reminding the listeners that the victor turned 50 last Tuesday.

And when Mardan, in his victory speech, added that he could play top-notch golf for the next five years surely, main sponsors Kervin Ng and Ang Bang Yao saluted the champion of the $30,000 SPGA President's Cup.

The two other main sponsors, Tan Teck Kee and Paul Loo, paid a tribute to amateur winner Marc Ong, 23, who returned the same total as runner-up Choo on 209. 

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FINAL SCORES

206: Mardan Mamat 67-70-69. 209: Marc Ong (am) 69-71-69, Choo Tze Huang 70-68-71. 210: Quincy Quek: 69-70-71. 211: Zaw Moe 69-69-73.  212: Mitchell Slorach 72-70-70. 216: Koh Dengshan 73-72-71. 218: Indra Hermawan 71-72-75. 219: Jonathan Woo 72-75-72.

Seniors - 
212: Dino Kwek 75-67-70. 215: Poh Eng Wah 70-73-72. 216: M. Murugiah 68-71-77. 223: Jimmy Poh 72-77-74.