Adelaide’s Wade Ormsby won the Asian Tour’s Hong Kong Open for the second time when he cruised to victory by closing with a four-under par 66 at Hong Kong Golf Club.
Unlike his first win at the Hong Kong Open in 2017 when he won by a single shot, Ormsby enjoyed a more comfortable victory as he triumphed by four shots over reigning Open champion Shane Lowry of Ireland.
The South Australian did not get off to the best of starts on Sunday when he stumbled with an opening bogey. However, he recovered quickly with three consecutive birdies from the second hole before adding another on nine to take a five-shot lead at the turn then.
Ormsby birdied 11 but dropped another shot on 15 before another birdie on 17 effectively confirmed his wire-to-wire victory as he closed with a winning total of 17-under par.
“I’ve been working my guts out the past 14 to 15 months trying to take my game to the next level,” Ormsby said. “[The] Australian PGA three weeks ago… losing that one really hurt me so I’ll put a few changes in place. I worked out over the break and to come back here and get the win so soon, can’t put it into words really.
“I was hoping to win this season but to do it in week two of the year in my first event is special and it will be one I’ll remember forever. I have three wins on the main tours in my career and this is my first wire-to-wire. I’m very proud of my play this week. Going through what I went through three weeks ago, that kind of hit me pretty hard. I didn’t even want to know the game for three or four days, but to come back and do what I’ve done this week, like I said, proud of myself and proud of my team.”
Lowry surmounted a late charge by storming up the leaderboard with a 64, having started the day six shots behind Ormsby in a share of ninth place. However, his gallant efforts were not enough to catch the Australian and he had to settle for second place.
Thailand’s Gunn Charoenkul enjoyed yet another top-10 finish as he posted a 69 to take third place, while 2019 Asian Tour Order of Merit champion Jazz Janewattananond carded a 68 to take outright fourth place ahead of American Tony Finau, who finished fifth after a 67.
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