Flawless Sivachandran two strokes in the lead


S. Sivachandran

JULY 15, 2010, Seremban: S. Sivachandran, touted as one of the local players to challenge for the title at the RM500,000 Negeri Sembilan Masters Invitational 2010 this week, did not disappoint as he seized the first round lead at the 6,303-metre, par-72 Seremban International Golf Club (SIGC).

Buoyed by a superb driving performance and a sizzling hot putter, Siva, 31, rained in three birdies at the third, fourth and sixth hole on the front nine before adding three more birdies at holes 11, 14 and 16 for a flawless round of six-under-par 66 for a two-shot advantage over local lad Akhmal Tarmizee Mohd Nazari and Filipino Mars Pucay.

“I’m happy with my game. I made some long putts and generally avoided trouble. The golf course is not easy. It demands prudent shotmaking off the tee to get in good position,” said Siva who made a couple of marvelous 20-footers for birdies early in his round to get his challenge going.

“This is my best start to the championship but I’m not getting ahead of myself here as there are three more rounds to go. I hope to do well and tomorrow, I will just go out and play,” added Siva who has a good record in the championship where he had a top ten finish last year and a sixth place finish the year before.


Akhmal Tarmizee Mohd Nazari

Despite struggling to hit the short grass, only finding five out of 14 fairways, Akhmal, who is a product of a successful junior program at SIGC, took advantage of his familiarity with the layout to card seven birdies and three bogeys for a four-under-par 68.

“I played good. My putting, especially the long ones from 20 feet out were great. That’s definitely the highlight of my game today,” said Akhmal who currently ranks second on the Asian Development Tour after finishing third in the Air Bagan Myanmar Masters in January.

“I hope tomorrow I can play and score as good as today. I think all of the players have equal chance to win, I mean its only the first day and anything can happen. But Siva had played impressively. It’s good if we can have a Malaysian as the champion this year,” added Akhmal.


Mars Pucay

Akhmal’s playing partner, Pucay chalked up five birdies and a single bogey to match his score. Pucay credited his impeccable ball striking to his fine round where he only missed one fairway - at the eighth hole - where he ended with the only bogey of his round.

Rookie professional, Nicholas Fung started strongly with a chip-in eagle on the 316-metre, par-four first hole and eventually ended his round on three-under-par 69 tied with Japan’s Takafumi Kawane and Lee Yi-cheng and Lien Lu Sen from Chinese Taipei.

Seven other players including locals Airil Rizman Zahari and Iain Steel are tied on two-under-par 70. Defending champion, Lam Chih Bing from Singapore could only manage an even-par 72 while Mohd Shaaban Hussin returned with a three-over-par 75.


LEADING SCORES
(Malaysians unless stated)

66 S. Sivachandran
68 Akhmal Tarmizee Mohd Nazari, Mars Pucay (PHI)
69 Nicholas Fung, Lee Yi-cheng (TPE), Takafumi Kawane (JPN), Lien Lu Sen (TPE)
70 Rory Hie (INA), Unho Park (AUS), T.J. Kim (KOR), Omar Dungca (PHI), Sattaya Supupramai (THA), Iain Steel, Airil Rizman Zahari
71 Chou Hung Nan (TPE), Nick Redfern (ENG), Young Nam (KOR), Hsu Chia Jen (TPE), Siddikur Rahman (BAN), Solhairy Mohd Sharif, Richard Moir (AUS), Pariya Junhasavasdikul (THA)



~~~~~ENDS~~~~~

Sizzling Siva serves a stunner in Seremban


S. Sivachandran

JULY 16, 2010, Seremban: Overnight leader, S. Sivachandran strengthened his stranglehold of the RM500,000 Negeri Sembilan Masters Invitational 2010 with a second successive six-under-par 66 at the 6,303-metre, par-72 layout of Seremban International Golf Club (SIGC) today.

Siva started at the tenth hole in the afternoon round and quickly built on his lead with three straight birdies at holes 10, 11 and 12. After making a birdie at the 15th, he dropped a shot at the 16th but made amends with birdies at the 17th and 18th to make the halfway mark at five-under for the day.

At the second nine, Siva, who won the KRPM Classic last May, bogeyed holes 2 and 5 but recovered brilliantly with three straight birdies at holes 7, 8 and 9 for a total of nine birdies against three bogeys. Siva’s two-day score of 12-under-par 132 gave him a six-stroke lead over local Akhmal Tarmizee Mohd Nazari and Australia’s Unho Park.

“It was a good game. I had a very good start which helped me a lot to ease the pressure. This is my personal best as a pro. I’ve recorded 12 under before but that was in 4 days but today, I managed 12 under in just two days,” said Siva who is poised to become the first Malaysian to win the championship since its inception in 2005.


Unho Park

Siva mastered the tricky layout with a combination of accurate tee-shots where he didn’t miss a single fairway, patient play, where he used his familiarity with the course to place his shots around and an extremely successful day on the green where he made a handful of long putts for birdies.

“The birdies that I scored saved my game a lot. I had good putts from 20 to 30 feet out. I considered that as my luck but the few missed ones, those were my mistakes,” added Siva. “I don’t have any specific game plan for the weekend. In this game, you can’t put any target. All you can do is to play as good as you can.”

Meanwhile, Park, who lost in a playoff against Juvic Pagunsan in 2007, put himself in a good position to challenge for the title this time around with a four-under-par 68 today that leaves him in tie second with Akhmal Tarmizee on six-under-par 138.

The young Akhmal was in fine form this week, coming back with a two-under-par 70 for a two-day score of six-under-par 138. The young gun, who has a very close tie with SIGC, having picked up the game at the club made four birdies at holes four, 11, 17 and 18 while making a double-bogey six at hole 10.


Akhmal Tarmizee Mohd Nazari

A total of 64 players made the cut set at four-over-par 148. Airil Rizman Zahari and M. Sasidaran, on four-under-par 140, Iain Steel on three-under-par 141 and Mohd. Rashid Ismail on two-under-par 142 are among the leading Malaysians making the cut.

LEADING SECOND ROUND SCORES
(Malaysians unless stated)

132 S.Sivachandran 66-66
138 Unho Park (AUS) 70-68, Akhmal Tarmizee 68-70
139 Mars Pucay (PHI) 68-71
140 Airil Rizman Zahari 70-70, Quincy Quek (SIN) 73-67, Pariya Junhasavasdikul (THA) 71-69, Hirotaro Naito (JPN) 72-68
141 Iain Steel 70-71, M.Sasidharan 72-69
142 Md. Rashid Ismail 72-70, Baek Seuk Hyun (KOR) 74-68


~~~~~ENDS~~~~~

Siva Continues To Shine, Looks Good For The Title


S. Sivachandran

17 JULY, 2010, SEREMBAN: Leader from day one, S. Sivachandran continued an impressive run to the title of the RM500,000 Negeri Sembilan Masters Invitational 2010 this week, with a comfortable three-under-par 69 at the 6,303 metre, par 72 layout of Seremban International Golf Club today.

Siva who started off with a birdie at the third hole maintained his solid game throughout the entire round. A string of birdies at holes 6, 13 and 15 follow right after that and he further cemented his lead at the end of the third round with 15-under par 201 for an eight-stroke advantage over Australia’s Unho Park.

“I’m really happy with how my game turned out. I don’t want to take for granted the lead that I have. I might be comfortable but I’m not thinking of the title yet because there are still 18 holes left,” said Siva who won the KRPM Classic last May.

Although he bogeyed holes 5 and 10 and missed a three-footer for birdie at hole 11, he said his familiarity with the course has certainly helped him to master the tricky layout, particularly on the greens where he made a few long putts that eventually contributed to his remarkable score.

“I don’t feel any pressure for tomorrow but I don’t know if that’s a good thing because I need pressure to play well,” added Siva. “But most importantly, I need to stick to my plan and concentrate on the game. I guess we have to see how things go.”


Unho Park (Australia)

Park, who came close to winning this championship in 2007 where he lost to Juvic Pagunsan in the playoff, plodded on patiently with a round of one-under-par 71 to stand at seven-under-par 209. He made five birdies at holes 6, 8, 12, 13 and 18 while falling short with four bogeys at hole 10, 11, 16 and 17.

“I’m not putting too much hope in overtaking Siva. Eight strokes lead is massive,” said Park. “What’s more important for me is to maintain my momentum and secure second place.”


T.J Kim (Korea)

Jumping up 10 spots up the leaderboard is Korea’s T.J Kim who fired the day’s best score of five-under par 67, which helped propelled him to the third place with six-under par 210. Kim, who sank five birdies at holes 1, 5, 6, 8 and 15 against a lone bogey at hole 7, is touted as the dark horse who might just make a surprise challenge tomorrow.


Akhmal Tarmizee Mohd Nazari

Another Malaysia’s lad, Akhmal Tarmizee Mohd Nazari who was in the top three for the previous two days dropped to fourth with one-over par 73 today and is tied with another local player Iain Steel.

“Siva seems to be running away with it but I have my own goal which is to card a good finish to improve my Asian Development Tour Order of Merit ranking.”

Six players including Hirotaro Naito of Japan, Mars Pucay of Philippines and Singapore’s Quincy Quek are tied on four-under par 212 while defending champion, Lam Chih Bing from Singapore could only manage two-under par 70 today for a three-under par 213.

THIRD ROUND SCORES
(Malaysian unless stated)

201 S. Sivachandran 66-66-69
209 Unho Park (AUS) 70-68-71
210 T.J Kim (KOR) 70-73-67
211 Iain Steel 70-71-70, Akhmal Tarmizee 68-70-73 ,
212 Hirotaro Naito (JPN) 72-68-72, Quincy Quek (SIN) 73-67-72, Mars Pucay (PHI) 68-71-73
213 Nakul Vichitryuthasastr (THA), 73-71-69, Lam Chih Bing (SIN) 72-71-70, Pariya Junhasavasdikul (THA) 71-69-73

~~~~~ENDS~~~~~

S. Sivachandran Wins Negeri Sembilan Masters 2010


(L-R) Datuk Mohd Yaacob Mohd Kassim (Tournament Director), Datuk Low Tak Fatt (Group Managing Director, KL Metro), Datuk Seri Utama Mohamad Hasan (Menteri Besar), S. Sivachandran, Yang Dipertuan Besar Negeri Sembilan, Tuanku Muhriz Tuanku Munawir and Datuk Tee Tiam Lee (Deputy Chairman Salcon Engineering Berhad)

JULY 18, 2010:, Seremban: Rain at the end of the final round did nothing to damper S. Sivachandran’s impressive performance in the final round of the RM500,000 Negeri Sembilan Masters Invitational 2010 at the Seremban International Golf Club (SIGC).

Siva, 31, led from day one and was consistent throughout the week and with an eight-stroke advantage at the start of the final round, was hardly challenged. He chalked up a three-under-par 69 for a tournament total of 18-under-par 270 to win the title comfortably by 12 shots, becoming the first Malaysian player to win the event since its inception in 2005. In addition, Siva’s tournament total is a new championship record.

Siva won RM78,500 champion’s cheque and as the first Malaysian champion, he pocketed an additional RM10,000 bonus from the Menteri Besar Negeri Sembilan, Datuk Seri Utama Mohamad Hasan.


S. Sivachandran

The win put him in the championship’s winners circle that include Toshiyuki Wasa from Japan (2005), M. Murugiah from Singapore (2006), Juvic Pagunsan (2007), Benjie Magada (2008) both from the Philippines and Lam Chih Bing from Singapore (2009).

Two other local players, Akhmal Tarmizee Mohd Nazari and Iain Steel ended in a share of second place with defending champion, Lam on six-under-par par 282, each earning RM36,250.


Iain Steel

Meanwhile, 2007 Pakistan Open champion, Airil Rizman Zahari shared fifth place alongside R.Nachimuthu and Korean T.J Lim on five-under-par 283. The trio banked in approximately RM17,000.

In the final round, Siva was a picture of consistency, sinking four birdies at holes three, four, nine and 12 against a lone bogey at hole five en route to a three-under-par 69.

“Obviously I’m delighted to win especially since I’m the first local to win. My score of 18-under par 270 is my personal best since I turned professional in 2006,” said the recently married Siva who also added that his win today was a belated wedding present. “I’d like to thank the championship’s organizer and sponsors. I dedicate this win to my sponsors Seri Selangor Golf Club, Asia Baru, CrestLink and Titleist as well as my caddie and my wife.”

“I had a very consistent game this week, my driving was perfect, always finding the fairways while my putting was superb, especially long putts in the 20-30 feet region. This win is an ideal boost to my game heading to the Brunei Open later this month and then the Selangor Masters next month. I hope to improve my ranking on the Asian Tour’s Order of Merit.”


Akhmal Tarmizee Mohd Nazari

Meanwhile, Akhmal Tarmizee, who currently ranks second on the Asian Development Tour failed to capitalize on his good start where he made four birdies at holes 1, 3, 4 and 8 to close the gap, standing at eight-under at one time. He was pegged by bogeys on holes 5, 6 and 17 and despite making another birdie at hole 13, he finished on six-under-par 282 total.

The prize presentation ceremony was graced by the Yang Dipertuan Besar Negeri Sembilan, Tuanku Muhriz Tuanku Munawar and attended by Menteri Besar and SIGC captain and tournament director, Datuk Mohd Yaacob Mohd Kassim.

FINAL RESULTS
(Malaysians unless stated)

270 S.Sivachandhran 66-66-69-69
282 Lam Chih Bing (SIN) 72-71-70-69, Akhmal Tarmizee 68-70-73-71, Iain Steel 70-71-70-71
283 R. Nachimuthu 73-72-70-68, Airil Rizman Zahari 70-70-74-69, T.J Kim (KOR) 70-73-67-73
284 Takafumi Kawane (JPN) 69-74-72-69, Nakul Vichitryuthasastr (THA) 73-71-69-71, Pariya Junhasavasdikul (THA) 71-69-73-71


~~~~~ENDS~~~~~

Congratulation Siva...Really happy with local players can win with real big score.Its a good good move for Malaysian golfing future.Very special thanks for Gabrian for latest up date result for every competetion.I really appreciate it.

Malaysia boleh, Congrat. to sivachandran.I hope this will countinue.