Pattaya: Sihwan Kim triumphed in the Asian Mixed Stableford Challenge yesterday on the Waterside Course at Siam Country Club to secure his second Asian Tour title in the space of six weeks and cement his position at the top of the Tour's Order of Merit.
The American won the US$750,000 tournament -- which was the Asian Tour's first ever Modified Stableford scoring event and was jointly sanctioned with the Ladies European Tour (LET) -- with a total of 49 points.
Rising Swedish star Maja Stark came home in second on 47 points while Budsabakorn Sukapan was third with 42 points, one ahead of Phachara Khongwatmai.
Sihwan Kim led after the first round with a 62 that gave him 22 points before unexpectedly crashing to a 76 on day two worth minus two points, but he started yesterday's round with an eight-point advantage thanks to an impressive 61 on Friday.
However, he was made to work hard all day by the chasing pack and had his lead cut to two points ahead of playing partner Stark at the turn, and three from Phachara and Korean Kim Joo-Hyung.
And a bogey on 13 saw him hold a two-point lead over Phachara with five holes to go, before a weather delay interrupted play at 1.17pm, which lasted one hour and 20 minutes.
But the break proved to be decisive and worked very much in the American's favour as he made three birdies in a row immediately after the restart from 14 onwards giving him a seven-point lead over Stark.
Sihwan Kim appeared to be cruising to victory holding a seven-point lead playing the par-five 18 but, to the disbelief of everyone, he pushed his 3-wood tee shot into the trees on the right. He found his ball but had to return to replay the tee shot.
It meant Stark had an outside chance of catching the American if she made an eagle, worth five points, but in the end Sihwan Kim made a double, to card a 70 and seven points, while Stark got a birdie, for a 66 and 13 points.
Sihwan Kim earned a cheque for $135,000, while Stark received $82,500.
"Obviously any win is a hard win. With Phachara just going strong in the beginning that put extra pressure on me but after the restart I think that cooled Phachara off and made me hot," said Sihwan Kim.
At the beginning of last month, the 33-year-old had not won a title since turning professional in 2011 but claimed the International Series Thailand and followed that up this week with another impressive victory that validated years of patience and persistence.
Yesterday's round brought to an end a memorable and groundbreaking two weeks of mixed golf events jointly sanctioned by the Asian Tour and LET.
Ratchanon Chantananuwat, 15, claimed the Asian Mixed Cup last week, becoming the youngest male player to win on one of the game's major Tours.