Dhaka: Sweden's Malcolm Kokocinski secured an inspiring victory when he closed with a six-under-par 65 to win by three shots for his first Asian Tour title at the Bangladesh Open yesterday.
Kokocinski, a regular on the Asian Development Tour (ADT) where he leads the current Order of Merit, overturned a three-shot deficit after returning with his best efforts of the week for a winning total of 14-under 270 at the Kurmitola Golf Club.
The 26-year-old Kokocinski, who is based in Thailand, took home a winner's prize purse of US$54,000 (approximately 1,730,000 baht), courtesy of his breakthrough win on the Asian Tour, which also marked his second professional victory since joining the play-for-pay ranks in 2012.
Kokocinski became the third consecutive first-time winner at the Bangladesh Open, following Thailand's Thitiphun Chuayprakong and Jazz Janewattananond in 2016 and 2017 respectively.
Overnight leader Jack Harrison of England endured two closing bogeys for a 71, settling for a share of second place with fellow Qualifying School graduate Ben Campbell of New Zealand, who carded a 69, in the US$300,000 (9.6 million baht) Asian Tour event.
"This win means a lot to me. I don't have a status on the Asian Tour before this week so I am really pleased with how I played here to win," said Kokocinski, who missed only three fairways and needed only 25 putts on the greens for his closing round of 65.
"I have been playing well the last couple of months. I knew my game was good so I just had stick to my game plan and hit some good shots coming down the stretch.
"I stayed patient out there. I was playing well all week so I knew a good round will come sooner or later. It was a big putt for me on the last hole. I knew Harrison was on 13 under after looking at the leaderboard coming down the 18th. I'm glad I pulled off the putt. This will give me a lot of confidence for the future. The goal now is to win more trophies," he added.
American John Catlin capped back-to-back top-10 finishes on the region's premier Tour after closing with a 66 to finish five shots back in tied-fourth place with Zamal Hossain Mollah, who emerged as the highest-ranked local player following a 69.
Thailand's Suttijet Kooratanapisan (71) was tied for sixth on eight-under 276, one stroke ahead of compatriot Settee Prakongvech (69).
