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.”