Four secure spots in The 150th Open

Sadom Kaewkanjana produced a nerveless final-round performance at Sentosa Golf Club to win the SMBC Singapore Open and head a list of four qualifiers for The 150^th Open.

Four places at St Andrews were on offer in the second Open Qualifying Series event for 2022 and Sadom was joined by Yuto Katsuragawa, Joohyung Kim and Sihwan Kim in securing a place at the Home of Golf in July.

Thailand’s Sadom won three events in the space of six weeks on the All Thailand Golf Tour last October and November, and he appeared totally at ease at Sentosa’s magnificent Serapong Course as he claimed his second Asian Tour title.

Having shot a six-under 65 on Saturday to share the 54-hole lead with Sihwan Kim, Sadom was bogey-free for a second day in succession as he mixed 16 pars with birdies on the sixth and seventh to finish on 13 under.

That was enough for a three-shot victory over Katsuragawa (68) and Joohyung Kim (69), with Sihwan Kim claiming the fourth qualifying berth on nine under following his final-day 73.

All four players are now set to make their Open debuts at St Andrews in the landmark 150^th Open.

Joohyung Kim qualified for The 149^th Open with a fourth-place finish at the 2020 Singapore Open, but he subsequently withdrew from the Championship at Royal St George’s due to international travel requirements related to the Covid-19 pandemic.

There was heartbreak on Sunday for India’s Veer Ahlawat, who looked on course to finish in the top four and qualify for St Andrews after a sensational start to his final round.

Ahlawat birdied five of the first six holes to get to 10 under and remained on that score with two holes to play, only to finish double bogey, bogey and slip two behind Sihwan Kim, who birdied the 17th.

Fourteen-year-old Thai amateur Ratchanon ‘TK’ Chantananuwat, who was third at the previous week’s Singapore International, showed further evidence of his rich talent with an opening-day 68, before finishing in a tie for 34th on one over.