Bayron rules Eastwood Masters, grabs ADT overall lead

MIRI, Malaysia—Jay Bayron of the Philippines won his third Asian Development Tour (ADT) title by beating Hsu Mong-nan of Chinese Taipei and Malaysian Nicholas Fung by one-shot at the PGM Eastwood Valley Masters on Saturday.

Bayron, who started the final round with a three-shot lead after rounds of 67-71-67, carded an even-par 72 to win his second ADT title of the season, which propelled him to the top of the Order of Merit from third place overall.

Hsu and Fung made a final round charge of 70 and 68, respectively, but had to settle for a tie for second at the $80,000 ADT event  at Eastwood Valley Golf and Country Club.

Bayron, who topped the inaugural Maybank ADT Challenge in Jakarta last July, was delighted to overcome the pressure from Hsu and Fung as he held on to his overnight lead with three birdies against as many bogeys.

“I came from behind to win in Indonesia so to be leading going into the last day was different for me,” said Bayron, who totaled 11-under-par 277 and won $14,000.

The Filipino is now a step closer to securing a 2013 Asian Tour card as the top three players on the Order of Merit will earn playing rights on the region’s established Tour. Bayron now leads the Order of Merit with total earnings of $30,889.

Bayron has a comfortable OOM lead over the second-running Peter Richardson of England, who has $23,403 so far.

Carl Santos-Ocampo finished in a two-way tie for 10th with a 71 for 286. The rest of the Filipinos struggled with Mark Fernando carding a 76 for 290, Charles Hong a 72 for 291, Jonel Ababa a 72 for 294 and James Lam a 76 for 299.