Australia’s Harrison Gilbert held firm to secure victory in the Indo Masters Golf Invitational presented by TNE at Imperial Klub Golf today. His final round 66 was enough to clinch the win at 18-under-par despite a late charge by Thailand’s Chanat Sakulpolphaisan.

Gilbert, who started the day in the final group alongside Thai duo Sakulpolphaisan and Chonlatit Chuenboonngam, opened the scoring with a bogey but soon recovered his composure in the US$70,000 Asian Development Tour event, posting three birdies and an eagle on the front nine. He picked up two more strokes on the way in to close with a six-under-par 66 and a final score of 270.

“I was really focused on just trying to keep it in play this week,” said the 23-year-old Australian, who made his pro debut in the Laguna Phuket Challenge as part of the Beautiful Thailand Swing.

“I made a few eagles which I was really happy about. After the first round I was one over and I thought I played pretty well, considering I hit it the water twice, and I was out of bounds, and then shot 64 the day after.”

The young Australian, who hails from the fabled Royal Melbourne course, is excited to get his professional career underway. “Really the last three days is probably the best golf I’ve ever played, “ he said.

“I feel like I’ve got room left in the tank to go lower. I’m honestly just really excited to get this journey underway, get the first win off my back and I’ll just stay in my lane and shoot for the stars. It’s really exciting.”

Chanat Sakulpolphaisan of Thailand. Picture by Yulius Martinus / OBGolf

Sakulpolphaisan maintained pressure all the way down the back stretch, carding six birdies in the last eight holes but in the end came up a single stroke short on 271. Chuenboonngam, who began the day tied for the lead, had a glimmer of hope on the front nine with four birdies but was unable to score after the turn and a final hole bogey dropped him down to a solo third with a score of 272.

Singapore’s Jesse Yap, the leader after Round 2, started the day strongly with five birdies and just a single dropped shot on the front nine, but was unable to improve on par through the back nine and finished fourth on 14-under-par and a final total of 274.

Thailand’s Sarun Sirithon and Jakraphan Premsirigorn, together with Shahriffuddin Ariffin of Malaysia, had all threatened the lead during the event but failed to deliver in the final round. Sirithon, who finished fifth overall with 275 strokes, seemed to have the best chance on the day with a pair of eagles and three birdies but a run of dropped shots on the back nine put paid to his chances.

Ariffin, who did himself no favors with only a par score for Round 2, recovered from an early bogey in the last round with a clutch of birdies but eventually had to settle for sixth place with a score of 276.

Jesse Yap, Jakraphan Premsirigorn and Sarun Sirithon shake hands following their round. Picture by Yulius Martinus / OBGolf

Premsirigorn, one of a handful who scored under par for all four rounds, was only able to improve on par by one stroke on the final day and finished in seventh with 277.

Round of the day was scored by Danny Masrin, who hadn’t made the most of his talents early on with only one shot gained to par in the first three rounds, turned in a blistering 63 to haul himself up the leaderboard on day four, with two eagles, seven birdies and astonishingly two bogeys to score the lowest round of the tournament.

Masrin’s eight place, with a score of 278, was shared with Thailand’s Nattawat Suvajanakorn while a group of five players – Elki Low of Indonesia, Malaysia’s Paul San, Justin Quiban of the Philippines, Australia’s Jack Murdoch and Tawit Polthai of Thailand – finished in 10th spot with a score of 279.

Alone in a solitary 15th place was Lloyd Jefferson Go of the Philippines, finishing with a two-under-par 70 for a final score of 280.