After a marathon weekend of 54 holes of golf played, due to Thursday and Friday’s play being washed out because of Typhoon Krathon, it was South African Jbe Kruger who came out on top after a tight battle with Jeunghun Wang from Korea.

Tied for the lead going into the last hole at Taiwan Golf and Country Club, Kruger made a birdie on 18 while Wang dropped a shot. He gave the South African a two-shot victory over the Korean and Thailand’s Pavit Tangkamolprasert.

The notoriously tricky Tamsui Course at Taiwan Golf and Country Club did not give up many low scores during the week – the lowest being five-under-par 67 by Wang, Lu Sun-yi, Trevor Simsby, Jaco Ahlers and Chonlatit Chuenboonngam. Kruger’s eight-under-par winning score is also the highest on the Asian Tour so far this season.

Kruger’s approach game was impressive considering Tamsui’s small greens; he missed only 12 greens for a Greens in Regulation (GIR) percentage of 77.78% to rank second in this statistics category for the week.

Pavit Tangkamolprasert. Picture by Paul Lakatos/Asian Tour.

He also had a good week off the tee and on the greens, ranking joint sixth in Driving Accuracy and equal  fifth in Putts per GIR, with 54.76% and 1.67 respectively.

Wang, who led for a big part of the final round, was solid across the board and ranked ninth in Putts per GIR with 1.69, and tied 16 in GIR with 64.81%, plus 16^th in Driving Distance with 297.5 yards.

Pavit, who birdied his final hole to grab a share of second place, led the field in Putts per GIR with 1.56 and was joint second in Putts per Round with a 26.6 average. He was also tied top for the most Birdies for the week on 15, with Kruger, Michael Maguire, and Nitithorn Thippong.

Their excellent results in Taipei meant big jumps on the Asian Tour Order of Merit for Kruger and Pavit, with the South African moving from 69^th to 10^th, and the Thai from 40^th to 18^th respectively.

Wang, who was sitting in 15^th place before the week began thanks to a runner up at the IRS Prima Malaysian Open and a equal eigtht at the International Series Morocco, moved up five spots to number 10.

Statistics Categories leaders at the Mercuries Taiwan Masters (of players making the cut):

• Putts per Round: S.S.P. Chawrasia (IND) 26.33
• Putts per GIR: Pavit Tangkamolprasert (THA) 1.56
• Greens In Regulation: Maverick Antcliff (AUS) 81.48%
• Fairways Hit: Poom Saksansin (THA) 71.43%
• Driving Distance: Wang Wei-hsuan (TPE) 327.5 Yards
• Most Eagles: Trevor Simsby (USA) 2
• Most Birdies: Jbe Kruger (RSA), Pavit Tangkamolprasert (THA), Michael Maguire (USA), Nitithorn Thippong (THA) 15
• Fewest Bogies or Worse: Rashid Khan (IND) 5
• Scrambling: Austen Truslow (USA) 87.5%