Australia’s Anthony Quayle did walk the talk in staging a late charge on the final day of the ISPS HANDA Championship in Japan.
The 27-year-old turned in a spirited display to close with a six-under-par 65 after marking his scorecard with an eagle, seven birdies and three bogeys at the PGM Ishioka Golf Club on Sunday.
Related: Justin De Los Santos a day away from breakthrough in Japan
Although he eventually came up short, finishing five shots behind winner Yuto Katsuragawa, Quayle’s superb effort still helped him finish a commendable tied sixth placing, the sixth top-10 outing of his JGTO career.
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Quayle emerged as the joint-leading international finishers on 19-under-par 265 total alongside Justin De Los Santos of the Philippines.
De Los Santos, who co-led by one overnight with Katsuragawa, had to wait longer for a JGTO breakthrough after he could only muster a 70 on the final day.
Shaun Norris of South Africa and Michael Hendry of New Zealand made it four international finishers in the top 10 after the duo finished on matching 266s, one shot ahead of Hyun Woo Ryu of South Korea.
Quayle was delighted with how things have panned out for him after finishing 11 rungs higher from where he started the day.
“I think I did as much as I needed to. I thought I still stood a fighting chance. If only I had a few things gone my way,” said Quayle.
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“Without the three bogeys, it could have been a nine-under to put me in a pretty good chance to contend at 22-under overall.
“But like I said yesterday, for me to make it happen, I would still need some help from the leaders, but they were all playing very well today.”
In what was a rollercoaster round for Quayle, he bounced back convincingly from a bogey on the fourth hole by making birdies the next five holes to get his game back on track.
Two more bogeys pegged him back after the turn, but he would showcase his never-say-die attitude later on, to make up for the lost strokes.
He pencilled birdie-birdie-eagle for holes 14-16 to get to 19-under.
“The first three or four holes…I played really badly. I was nervous, and I wasn’t striking the ball too well, but my putting kept me in it,” said Quayle.
“But I managed to steady the ship. I started to hit the ball better and settled down a little bit. My putting was still perfect, and I made a few birdies in a row there.
“I stumbled a little bit on the back-nine. But once I saw the birdie putt go in (on 14), I got hot again and finished very strongly.”
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While De Los Santos faded away, Katsuragawa held on brilliantly after a topsy-turvy round to win his maiden JGTO title by one shot from Rikuya Hoshino.
Katsuragawa had his three-shot advantage cancelled out by Hoshino at one point but held his nerve to restore his lead with a birdie on the 17.
A 65 was enough for Katsuragawa to narrowly pip Hoshino and redeem himself after finishing runner-up twice at the SMBC Singapore in January and Token Homemate Cup.
“It feels great to have finally won my first tournament after several runner-up finishes. Being an ISPS sponsored player and winning at their event is an added bonus! With this maiden victory, I’m looking forward to challenging for more honours either in Japan or overseas,” said a jubilant Katsuragawa.
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