Miñoza third in Vietnam Masters; Thai wins

Frankie Miñoza birdied the final hole to finish with a two-under par 70 and claim solo third in the $200,000 Carlsberg Vietnam Masters won by Thai ace Thaworn Wiratchant at the Chi Linh Star Golf and Country Club in Hanoi, Vietnam yesterday.

Miñoza, who shared the lead with Wiratchant at the halfway mark, rallied with four birdies at the backside to somehow atone for his poor third round performance and shaky stint at the frontside in the final round as he fought back from joint fifth place to salvage third place with a 284 aggregate.

Wiratchant held off Chris Rodgers with a closing 71 to claim his fifth title in the season with a 281 for a two-stroke victory over the Scot. Rodgers also birdied No. 18 to snatch solo second with a 283.

Miñoza, who had looked forward to an explosive weekend after gaining a share of the lead with a 68 in the second round, fumbled with a 76 in the third day and appeared headed for a big foldup after going two-over after nine holes in the final round.

But the former Japan PGA Tour regular birdied No. 10 and after a slew of pars, Miñoza came through with back-to-back birdies from No. 14 before closing out with another birdie for that 38-32 card.

Wiratchant, tied with Rodgers at the start of the round, pounced on the Scot’s wobbly stint from No. 11 to sieze control then hung tough with gutsy pars on Nos. 15, 16 and 17 before holing out with that birdie.

Rodgers, who snatched a one-stroke lead heading into the last nine holes, dropped four straight shots from No. 11 with a string of bogeys and needed to birdie two of his last three holes to salvage second place.

Gerald Rosales also rallied with a 70 to jump from 25th place to joint 15th with Thai Chapchai Nirat at 291, while Cookie La’O limped with a 74 and slid from 20th place to a share of 25th with 294.

Carito Villaroman, the other Filipino survivor, had a 75 and wound up in joint 37th with a 297.