China’s Andi Xu produced a spectacular finish of four consecutive birdies to claim his first professional title at The Indonesia Pro-Am presented by Combiphar & Nomura at Gunung Geulis Country Club on Friday.

Xu bounced back from a bogey at the 14th by birdieing each of his remaining four holes, closing with a six-under-par 65 on the West Course to finish the US$125,000 Asian Development Tour event on 18 under.

Australia’s Darcy Brereton applied the pressure all the way to the finish, matching Xu’s 65 and birdieing the 18th to reach 17 under, but the Chinese player responded by converting from five feet at the last to secure a one-stroke victory.

Korea’s Minhyeok Yang had earlier established the clubhouse target after producing the low round of the day, a seven-under 64 that took him to 15 under.

Playing four groups ahead of the final threesome, Yang held the clubhouse lead until the battle between Xu and Brereton developed over the closing holes.

Xu began the final round with a one-shot advantage over Brereton and ADT Order of Merit leader Khavish Varadan and remained unaware of exactly where he stood until reaching the 15th green.

“I didn’t look at the leaderboard until 15, when there was one next to the green,” said Xu. “At that point I was 14 under and I believe I was one behind Darcy.

“I ended up holing the birdie putt from the fringe of the green there and then made a few more putts over the last three to birdie out and win by one.

“On these greens you don’t really know if you’re going to make those 20-footers. I just told myself before every putt, ‘Just hit a good putt. It’s like all the putts you practise. Don’t even think about the score.’ And then they just rolled in.”

Having drawn level with Brereton, Xu birdied the 16th and 17th to take a one-shot advantage to the par-four 18th.

With Brereton alongside him in the final group, Xu opted for caution from the tee while the Australian took the more aggressive route.

“Darcy was 16 under and I was 17 under, so my thought was that I just needed to play it safe. There was no need to take risks,” said Xu.

“I hit four-iron off the tee into the middle of the fairway and Darcy hit driver and had about 50 yards left. I had 130 yards uphill and hit pitching wedge to about five or six feet.

“Darcy hit his chip to about 20 feet and drained the putt. Props to him — he played a great tournament. I just had to step up and make the putt, and thankfully I did.”

Darcy Brereton

Brereton’s birdie briefly drew him level at 17 under, leaving Xu needing to hole his putt to avoid a playoff.

“I thought it was missing right, to be honest,” Xu said. “It was a little high and I was thinking, ‘Please don’t lip out.’ Then it lipped in, so I was very thankful.
“I would not have wanted to go into a playoff after a long tournament!”

The victory was an emotional breakthrough for Xu, who is in his first season competing on the Asian Tour and Asian Development Tour and had not won a tournament since his college days.

“It feels great. Honestly, I haven’t felt anything like this in a long time,” he said.

“My last tournament win was in college and to be able to win on a professional stage like this means the world to me.”

Xu said his primary objective this season had been to continue developing his game, but victory in Indonesia has given him another important step towards establishing himself in Asia.

“The main goal for me is to improve my game, but on top of that it would be nice to keep my card,” he said. “I think this win helps with that goal and moves me forward in the rankings.

“Hopefully I’ll be able to play on this tour next year. To have an Asian Tour card would be really beneficial to my game.”

Brereton, who had started the day one behind Xu, made an early bogey at the first but responded with seven birdies and no further dropped shots to push the eventual champion all the way.

Despite narrowly missing out on the title, the Australian was encouraged by his 17-under total.

“I’ve got to be happy with myself. I had a target in mind of about 15 or 16 under for the week, so to get past that was good,” said Brereton.

“I thought it was going to be harder this year with how much firmer and faster the course was. It played a bit more strategically, but I’m pretty happy.

“You can always look at the ones you missed, but I also made some good ones. Andi played great. There wasn’t much more I could have done, I guess.”

Brereton said the result was particularly satisfying after feeling his performances had not been reflected in his results in recent weeks.

“I feel like I’ve been playing well for some time. I cracked a driver a few weeks ago in Taiwan and didn’t realise until last week, so I feel like I’ve been playing well without getting a result.

“It’s good to finally get right up there in the hunt and have a strong finish.”

Minhyeok Yang

Yang finished alone in third on 15 under following his 64, with Italy’s Michele Ortolani fourth on 14 under after a closing 66.

Varadan, who began the final round alongside Xu and Brereton, carded a 69 to finish fifth on 13 under, while Mexico’s Roberto Lebrija and Indonesia’s Kevin Akbar shared sixth at 11 under.

India’s Khalin Joshi, American Nathan Han and England’s Thomas Plumb completed the top 10 at 10 under.

The Asian Development Tour remains in Indonesia next week for the US$150,000 Ciputra Golfpreneur Tournament at Damai Indah Golf’s BSD Course, where Brereton will look to carry the momentum from his runner-up finish.

“I’m looking forward to Ciputra next week,” he said. “I love the course and I’m looking forward to it.”

China’s Andi Xu fired a seven-under-par 64 to take a one-shot lead after the second round of the US$125,000 Indonesia Pro-Am presented by Combiphar & Nomura at Gunung Geulis Country Club on Thursday.

Xu, who opened with a 66 on the East Course, moved to 12 under after negotiating the West Course in 64 and will head into Friday’s final round one ahead of Australia’s Darcy Brereton and ADT Order of Merit leader Khavish Varadan of Malaysia.

Brereton followed his opening 65 on the West Course with a 66 on the East, while Varadan added a 65 on the West to his first-round 66 to join the Australian on 11 under.

Indonesia’s Kevin Akbar and Thailand’s Nitithorn Thippong share fourth place at 10 under, with Thippong matching Xu’s 64.
Xu’s round contained plenty of scoring opportunities but he said patience on Gunung Geulis’ difficult greens proved just as important as his seven-under score suggested.

“The conditions were tough. Obviously there are a lot of opportunities for birdies, but the greens are really tricky,” said Xu (main picture).

“I actually had two three-putts today, so I just kept my composure, kept hitting good putts and tried to get the speed right.

“The main thing is not to be too aggressive and just keep your pace. The downhill putts are really slippery and you can three-putt very easily, so I was just trying to do the best I could on every shot and not think about the score.”

The 64 represented only a two-shot improvement on his opening round, and Xu felt the difference came primarily on the greens.

“Honestly, I played pretty similarly to yesterday. It was just a matter of how many putts dropped,” he said.

Xu is in his first season competing on the Asian Tour and ADT after playing last year on the PGA Tour of Australasia and said his focus has been on developing his game rather than setting specific targets.

“I’m just trying to improve myself every tournament. I’m not really aiming for a specific score or a specific place,” he said.

“I’m grinding and trying to perfect my game until I’m ready to perform even better on these stages. It’s more about the process rather than trying to finish top five or top 10.”

A victory on Friday would be Xu’s first since his college days three or four years ago and, after struggling with his putting in recent events, he believes his performance this week could represent an important step forward.

“It would be huge. I haven’t won in a while, so it would be a huge boost to my confidence and an affirmation that I’ve been doing the right things,” he said.

“I’ve struggled with my putting in the last few tournaments and this week has been a huge change. I hope I can take this momentum into tomorrow.”

Darcy Brereton

Brereton, meanwhile, has quietly put together two consistent rounds and described his opening 36 holes as largely stress-free.

“It was good. I’ve enjoyed playing here, so it’s been pretty stress-free and pretty enjoyable,” said Brereton. “I hit it well and putted quite nicely. Same as yesterday, it’s been a pretty smooth two days.”

The Australian has particularly good memories of the event after winning the team competition last year and admitted the tournament had been on his radar since the schedule was announced.

“I had this one marked for a while when the schedule came out,” he said. “I thoroughly enjoyed my time here last year and in Indonesia as a whole.

“I love coming here. The course is great and everyone has looked after me really well, so you don’t have to twist my arm to come back.”

Brereton plans few changes for Friday’s final round.

“I probably won’t change too much off the tee. I’ll just keep hitting good shots and hopefully keep holing putts,” he said.

Varadan’s 65 was rather less straightforward.

After beginning his round on the back nine and missing a two-foot putt on his opening hole, the Malaysian quickly recovered and transformed his round with birdies at 14 and 15 followed by an eagle at the par-five 16th.

“It was a good round. I got off to a shaky start and missed a two-footer on my first hole, but then things started moving,” said Varadan.

“I birdied 14 and 15 and eagled 16, and that really propelled my round. After that I felt a little better and managed my game. Everything was pretty solid.

“I actually felt like I played better yesterday, but I’m really thankful for the score today and looking forward to tomorrow.”

Khavish Varadan

Varadan has balanced appearances on the Asian Tour with a busy ADT schedule during his first full season as a professional and sees the Development Tour as an important part of his progression.

“I’m still fresh as a professional, so my goal is to play as many competitive rounds as I can,” he said.

“The ADT is really competitive and we play a variety of different golf courses. I want to win on the ADT and win the Order of Merit and build my career from there.”

Behind the leading five, Finlay Mason, Roberto Lebrija and Michele Ortolani share sixth at nine under, while six players are another stroke back at eight under, including first-round leader Ayoub Lguirati.

Lguirati, who equalled the East Course record with an opening 62, slipped back with a one-over 72 on the West Course.

American Nathan Han, who opened with a 64 on the West, also sits at eight under following a 70 on the East.

First-round runner-up Tim Nielsen followed his opening 63 with a 75 and is four under, eight shots behind Xu.

The cut fell at three under, with 50 professionals advancing to Friday’s final round on the West Course. Play begins at 7am with a two-tee start.

The three-day tournament features a professional stroke-play competition alongside a separate team event pairing each professional with an amateur.