The International Series Macau presented by Wynn turned out to be an event for the best ball-strikers, with some of the game’s pre-eminent iron players finishing on top of the leaderboard on Sunday after 72 holes.

The Macau Golf and Country Club greens proved extremely tricky on the weekend, even for the world-class players assembled.

Speeds in excess of 11 on the Stimpmeter and difficult pin positions demanded precise approach shots to below the hole to avoid the risk of three-putts.

There were 360 three-putts or worse made during the tournament, and of the players making the cut only two players, Australia’s Lucas Herbert and American Seungsu Han, managed to keep them off the card for the week while the highest number recorded was 10.

Patrick Reed. Picture by Paul Lakatos/Asian Tour.

One of the star players likened the speed of the greens to Augusta National, home of the Masters Tournament, when taking the slope into consideration.

In the end it was Mexico’s Carlos Ortiz who won the tournament by three shots in a tense battle with runner-up Patrick Reed of the United States, for his second win on the Asian Tour and The International Series.

Ortiz’s victory was thanks to a deadly combination of approach game, putting and power off the tee. He excelled with his iron play ranking T2 in Greens in Regulation (GIR) with 84.72%, and ranked fourth in Putts per GIR with 1.656.

Playing aggressively off the tee, he was T12 in Driving Distance on 313.38 yards while hitting 57.69% of the Fairways, ranking T37.

He tied Reed, Sergio Garcia from Spain and Mexican Abraham Ancer in Most Birdies for the week with 23, topped only by Jason Kokrak who posted 24. Ortiz also made two eagles during the 72 holes, crucially one on the 12^th hole in the final round, one less than category leader Adrian Meronk of Poland with three.

Jason Kokrak. Picture by Paul Lakatos/Asian Tour.

The 2018 Masters champion Reed was nearly flawless with his approach game, missing only seven greens and posting a 90.28% GIR for the tournament, a clear winner in this stat category hitting four more greens than Ortiz and Canadian Richard T. Lee. Unfortunately for the halfway leader Reed, his putter turned cold on the weekend where he posted 32 and 31 putts per round respectively, and he finished the week ranked 27^th in Putts per GIR with 1.738. He did top the Fewest Bogies or Worse stat with 4.

While fellow American and third-placed finisher Kokrak was not as accurate into the greens with a 75% GIR (T26), he did have a very impressive week on the greens ranking second in the Putts per GIR category with 1.593, and T2 in Putts per Round with 27.5.

Combined with a Driving Distance average of 323.63 yards, ranking fifth, he would have had a lot of short distances into par fours and fives which helped set him up for most birdies made.

While Garcia put together a solid week stats-wise in Putting (third in Putts per GIR with 1.654), Driving Distance (16^th with 311.25 yards) and Fairways Hit (T10 with 65.38%), it was perhaps a sub-par week by his lofty standards in GIR with 72.22% ranking T35. It left him with too much of an uphill battle to challenge for the win.

Statistics Categories leaders at the International Series Macau presented by Wynn (of players making the cut):

• Putts per Round – Pavit Tangkamolprasert (THA): 27
• Putts per GIR – Jazz Janewattananond (THA): 1.588
• GIR – Patrick Reed (USA): 90.28%
• Fairways Hit – Gaganjeet Bhullar (IND): 78.85%
• Driving Distance – Jubin Yang (KOR): 331.88 yards
• Most Eagles – Adrian Meronk (POL): 3
• Most Birdies – Jason Kokrak (USA): 24
• Fewest Bogies or Worse – Patrick Reed (USA): 4
• Scrambling – Richard T. Lee (CAN): 90.91%