Rosales finishes joint ninth to pocket P1-M

Gerald Rosales capped his remarkable comeback from a poor first round stint with a stirring six-under par 65 yesterday as the ace Filipino shotmaker made a top 10 finish in the tough Carsberg Malaysia Open won by Indian Arjun Atwal at the Mines Resort & Golf Club in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Rosales maintained his five-under card at the par-71 layout when play was stopped due to storm late Saturday and the former Philippine Open champion sustained that charge in the final round en route to completing his amazing jump from 60th place in the first round to ninth place he shared with four others.

He strung up nines of 33-32 and had a 271, that included rounds of 72, 68 and 66, as Rosales won $20,702 or P1,117,908.

The 26-year-old Rosales is expected to ride on this big campaign when he joins his compatriots in the hunt for the top P1 million purse in the rich Don Pocholo Razon Memorial Invitational Golf Championship which fires off tomorrow at The Country Club in Canlubang.

Atwal recorded his second European Tour victory after holding off world number five Retief Goosen of South Africa in an intriguing head-to-head battle for the top $183,330 purse.

Atwal, who won last year’s Caltex Singapore Masters, clinched the title in style by chipping in from the edge of the 18th green for a birdie. The Indian, who played 10 holes to finish off the weather-delayed third round on Sunday morning, shot a final round 66 for a 24-under-par total of 260 and a four-stroke victory over Goosen, who closed out with a 68, and Australia’s Brad Kennedy who had a 64.

Goosen, the two-time European Tour number one, started the final round two adrift of Atwal but closed the gap to one on three occasions. But Atwal twice hit back immediately and was virtually handed the win when Goosen hit his tee shot into the water at the 13th to run up a bogey five.