Kingston wins by a mile

South African James Kingston wins by 10 in Myanmar

Martin Park
Mon, 28 Feb 2000
Kingston wins by a mile

Yangon, February 27, 2000:

South African James Kingston matched Tiger Woods' 10 stroke winning margin on the Davidoff Tour today in the US$200,000 London Myanmar Open at Yangon Golf Club.

Kingston completed a wire-to-wire victory in convincing fashion by closing with a five-under-par 67 to beat compatriot Craig Kamps by 10 shots. Myanmar's Kyi Hla Han tied for third with India's Gaurav Ghei a stroke further back. The most a player has won by on the Davidoff Tour is Australian Bradley Hughes' 12 stroke victory in the 1996 Players Championship, while the second largest was recorded by Woods in the 1997 Asian Honda Classic in Thailand.

It is Kingston's third victory on the Davidoff Tour and his winning total of 19-under-par 269 is the joint third lowest winning total on Tour. Kingston, who broke the course record with a 64 on day one, started the final round with a six-stroke lead and by just the third hole he was 10 in front.

"My game has been gradually getting better this year but I never expected to play this well," said Kingston, who won US$32,300 for first place. "When I teed off today I did not think about the six-stroke lead. I imagined I was all square with the other players and focused on playing them off the stick. The key for me this week was hitting a lot of fairways and greens. It took a lot of pressure off me," added the 34 year old, who made just four bogies all week.

His victory in Myanmar was in stark contrast to his triumph in last year's Maekyung Daks Open and the 1998 Thailand Open, both of which resulted from sudden-death play-offs. Han, last year's Davidoff Tour Order of Merit winner, bogied the final hole to close with a 71 while Ghei came in with a 69.

"I was pushing for a birdie on the last to try and catch Craig (Kamps) but I just went over the back and into a bunker with my second shot. It was nearly a great shot," said Han, who won the Volvo China Open last year. "It has been a good week for me. I feel I have got my tempo back although I am still not quite happy with my ball striking," added Han.

269 James Kingston (RSA) (64, 71, 67, 67)

279 Craig Kamps (RSA) (72, 67, 71, 69)

281 Kyi Hla Han (RSA) (70, 72, 68, 71), Gaurav Ghei (IND) (67, 73, 72, 69)

282 Lu Wen-teh (TWN) (71, 69, 73, 69)

284 Mike Cunning (USA) (70, 67, 73, 74), Jyoti Randhawa (IND) (67, 72, 69, 76)

285 Kenny Druce (AUS) (74, 68, 71, 72), Charlie Wi (KOR) (71, 72, 72, 70)

286 Arden Knoll (CAN) (74, 69, 71, 72), Scott Rowe (HKG) (68, 71, 73, 74), Jim Rutledge (CAN) (72, 74, 67, 73)

287 Clay Devers (USA) (71, 70, 74, 72), Zaw Moe (MYN) (70, 71, 77, 69)