Kiradech Aphibarnrat of Thailand defeated Australia’s James Nitties by 2&1 in the final to win the ISPS Handa World Super 6 Perth at Lake Karrinyup CC in Perth, Australia.
Kiradech Aphibarnrat Wins World Super 6 Perth
Kiradech Aphibarnrat claimed his fourth European Tour title with victory in a thrilling ISPS Handa World Super 6 Perth. The Thai golfer defeated James Nitties by 2&1 in the final.
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Aphibarnrat was a late entry into the ISPS Handa World Super 6 Perth tournament and had never played the course at Lake Karrinyup coming into the event.
After 54 holes of strokeplay, Aphibarnrat had to go through a playoff to make the last 24 and progress to the six-hole matchplay contests on the final day. The 28-year-old then had to come through five matches and complete 35 holes of golf on the Sunday to take the title.
The winning moment:
The last qualifier. The last man standing
Aphibarnrat wins the #WS6Perth. pic.twitter.com/xUiieZTRs4
— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) February 11, 2018
Aphibarnrat secured wins over Ben Eccles, Yusaku Miyazato, Sean Crocker and Lucas Herbert to set up a final with James Nitties, who had beaten Nick Cullen, Dimitrios Papadatos, Callan O’Reilly and Sam Horsfield.
Nitties went one-up through one in the final but Aphibarnrat levelled it on the third. On the fourth, the Thai player made a superb eagle two on the driveable par-4 to move ahead and he followed up with a birdie at the fifth to win the match by 2&1.
The Thai moves up to a career-high 37th in the world
“It’s just been an awesome week,” he said. “I don’t know how to explain but I’m so happy. I’m working so hard. The last few months I’ve been getting really close and finally I’ve done it.”
3 Talking points from the ISPS Handa World Super 6 Perth
1 – This was a fourth European Tour win for Aphibarnrat and his second in playoff format – He also won the 2015 Saltire Energy Paul Lawrie Match Play. The victory will see him climb back into the top-50 on the Official World Golf Ranking.
“It’s really tough to get in the last 24. It’s been tough every single match that I play in,” he said. “James is playing so good but he’s just unlucky at the end.”
Titleist Vokey SM7 grinds explained:
2 – Another Thai golfer, Prom Meesawat had led through the strokeplay stages of the competition. He was 12-under-par through 54-holes. He went straight into round two of the match play stages but he fell at that hurdle, losing by two holes to the amateur Min Woo Lee of Australia.
3 – Lee lost in the quarter finals to England’s Sam Horsfield. The Englishman was then knocked out by James Nitties in the semis and, in the end, he had to settle for fourth place. He lost in the consolation match to another Australian, Lucas Herbert.
ISPS Handa World Super 6 Perth
Lake Karrinyup CC, Perth, Australia
Date: Feb 8-11
Purse: €1,350,000
1 Kiradech Aphibarnrat (Tha)
2 James Nitties (Aus)
3 Lucas Herbert (Aus)
4 Sam Horsfield (Eng)
T5 Sean Crocker (USA)
T5 Brad Kennedy (Aus)
T5 Min Woo Lee (Aus) amateur
T5 Callan O’Reilly (Aus)
T9 Marcus Fraser (Aus)
T9 Andrea Pavan (Ita)
T9 Yusaku Miyazato (Jap)
T9 Yikeun Chang (Kor)
T9 Dimitrios Papadatos (Aus)
T9 Thorbjorn Olesen (Den)
T9 Matthew Millar (Aus)
T9 Prom Meesawat (Tha)
Note: Player name in bold signifies Titleist ball usage
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