Wade Ormsby wins UBS Hong Kong Open

Wade Ormsby of Australia fired a closing round of 68 to win the UBS Hong Kong Open by a single shot from Julian Suri, Paul Peterson, Alexander Bjork and Rafa Cabrera Bello.

Wade Ormsby began the final day of the UBS Hong Kong Open at the Hong Kong GC a stroke behind 54-hole leader S.S.P. Chawrasia and the Australian found himself four behind the Indian player through nine holes.

But Chawrasia stumbled with a triple-bogey on the 9th hole which opened the door for the chasing pack, including Ormsby.

The Australian played a strong back nine that included three birdies and, when he reached the final hole, Ormsby held a two-shot lead.

The 34-year-old’s advantage was cut back to one when Rafa Cabrera Bello birdied the 17th. Ormsby then three-putted the 18th green to fall back to 11-under, in a tie with Cabrera-Bello.

A playoff looked likely but when the Spaniard’s second shot to the last found the greenside bunker and he failed to save par, the title went to Ormsby.

Cabrera-Bello finished in a tie for second with Americans Julian Suri and Paul Peterson plus Sweden’s Alexander Bjork.

S.S.P Chawrasia couldn’t recover from his triple-bogey on the 9th and further dropped shots on the run for home saw him finish back in a tie for seventh.

3 Talking points from the UBS Hong Kong Open

1 – Wade Ormsby secured his first European Tour victory in his 264th start on the circuit. The 34-year-old first played a full season on the European Tour in 2004 and he has had to come through Q-school four times in total. He now has an exemption to the end of 2020. "It means a lot to me," said Ormsby. "I've played a lot of golf in Europe, everywhere, and a few bumps along the way but it's pretty cool to get a win this late in your career. A few of my are mates over there so that makes it pretty special, having mates around makes it all the more special. I probably won't sleep too much on that flight on the way to Oz tonight."

2 – 2017 Race to Dubai winner Tommy Fleetwood enjoyed a good start to his 2018 European Tour campaign. He finished alone in sixth place, just two shots behind the winner. The Englishman couldn’t quite find the spark he needed to push on for victory in the final round. He closed with a 69 made up of 17 pars and just a single birdie.

3 – Four-time champion Miguel Angel Jimenez enjoyed a superb final round of 63. The Spaniard will be 54 in January but he proved he can still compete at the highest level, carding 7 birdies and no bogeys in his seven-under-par round.

Miguel Angel Jimenez warm-up routine:

UBS Hong Kong Open Hong Kong GC, Fanling, Hong Kong Nov 23-26 Purse: €1,675,000 Par: 70

1 Wade Ormsby (Aus) 68 68 65 68 269 €281,786 T2 Julian Suri (USA) 68 67 69 66 270 €112,480 T2 Paul Peterson (USA) 70 68 65 67 270 €112,480 T2 Alexander Bjork (Swe) 69 66 67 68 270 €112,480 T2 Rafa Cabrera Bello (Esp) 69 68 64 69 270 €112,480 6 Tommy Fleetwood (Eng) 68 68 66 69 271 €59,176 T7 Miguel Angel Jimenez (Esp) 70 69 70 63 272 €43,621 T7 Micah Lauren Shin (USA) 67 69 68 68 272 €43,621 T7 S.S.P. Chawrasia (Ind) 65 66 69 72 272 €43,621

Note: Player score in bold signifies Titleist ball usage