On Sunday, the Porsche Singapore Classic came down to the very last moment. Jesper Svensson secured his first DP World Tour victory by defeating Kiradech Aphibarnrat at the third playoff hole.
At Laguna National, a number of players saw themselves get closer to contention over the course of the long, exhausting day. But in the end, the Swedish Rookie prevailed after an incredible nine-under-par final round that sent him into a playoff. He won with a par on the third attempt.
Although he had led the field early in the day, David Micheluzzi’s mid-round meltdown, which resulted in back-to-back double bogeys, caused him to fall considerably in the standings. To be fair, Micheluzzi did make it back into the top 10 with a couple of closing birdies.
That meant that several other players, including Major winner Shane Lowry, had to make a run at the championship. The former Open champion, who was five strokes under par after 11 holes, would lose those five shots and end all the way back in a share of 29th place.
With a few groups remaining, Svensson (63) and Aphibarnrat (64), who had started well ahead of the pack, both set excellent markers with rounds of nine-under and eight-under par, respectively, giving them the lead in the clubhouse.
Paul Casey of LIV Golf, who is competing in the event on a Sponsor’s Invite, was just barely unsuccessful, ending at 13-under and placing sixth overall. Sam Bairstow, who tied Casey for the last hole putt to go into the playoffs, also had an eagle putt, but the Englishman missed it and ended in third place at 16-under.
Kiradech Aphibarnrat strikes the 18th hole with his tee shot.
Aphibarnrat was attempting to win his first victory on the DP World Tour since 2018.
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All the signs pointed to Svennson winning going back up the par-5 18th, particularly after the Swede drove the ball past Aphibarnrat’s by about 60 yards on the opening playoff hole.
But the Thai player hit a great up-and-down to match Svennson at the first, and we led the 18th hole for the third time after pars in the second playoff.
Despite the distance advantage, both men finished in similar spots after their second shots, but it was Aphibarnrat who blinked first as his pitch shot ran over the green and down the steep slope on the other side. Having failed to make his par, Svennson had two putts from short range to pick up the title and his biggest win to date.
PORSCHE SINGAPORE CLASSIC LEADERBOARD
1st Svennson (-17* Won at third playoff hole)
2nd Aphibarnrat (-17* Lost at third playoff hole)
3rd Bairstow (-16)
4th Sullivan (-15)
5th Pavon (-14)
6th Casey (-13)
T7th Micheluzzi, Sharma, Del Rey, Enoch (-12)
T11th Ferguson, Nemecz, Winther, Mansell, Luiten (-11)
T16th Wiesberger, Migliozzi, Helligkilde, Whitnell, Schott (-10)
T21st Soderberg, J.Smith, Arnaus, Ravetto, Van Driel, Bekker, A.Fitzpatrick, Langasque (-9)
T29th Lowry, Forsstrom, R.Hojgaard, Scrivener, Law, Nakajima (-8)
T35th Chantananuwat (A), Jarvis (-7)
T37th Coussaud, Brun, Veerman, McGreevy, Cockerill, Zanotti (-6)
T43rd Schwab, Li, C.Hill, Strydom, Girrbach, Wu (-5)
T49th T.Lewis, Hoshino, Cantero, G.Green, Lombard, Waring, Norgaard (-4)
T56th Molinari, Morrison, Hanna, Colsaerts (-3)
T60th Ramsay, Gouveia, Kawamura, Dantorp (-2)
64th Schaper (-1)
T65th Kho, Pavan, Lacroix, Laporta, Lawrence (E)
T70th Baldwin, Goth-Rasmussen, M.Jordan, Forrest (+1)
74th Southgate (+2)
T75th Kofstad, Kinhult, Gallacher, Hidalgo (+3)
T79th Celli, R.Fisher (+4)
81st Scalise (+5)
