Tournament: Fiji International
Race to Dubai: Tournament 33 of 47 events
Venue: Natadola Bay Golf Club
Prize fund: AS $1,500,000
Hashtag: #FijiIntl
Australian Jason Norris claimed his maiden European Tour title in style as a final-round 67 earned him a four-stroke victory at the Fiji International.
A brilliant birdie burst on the front nine put Norris in control and he carded two birdies and two bogeys after the turn to finish the week on 14 under par.
Thailand’s Jazz Janewattananond came into the day eight shots off the lead, but produced a course-record 64 which featured an eagle and six birdies to finish at ten under par alongside Australian duo David McKenzie and James Marchesani
Peter Wilson, who was on course to take second place before a double bogey at the last saw him slip back to nine under, finished one shot further back alongside fellow Australians Daniel Pearce, Adam Bland and Wade Ormsby.
Norris began the day one shot behind overnight leader and European Tour regular Ormsby after posting a third-round 70 on Saturday. But he soon caught his compatriot at the summit, picking up a shot at the first to move to ten under par.
And Norris took the outright lead when he rolled in his tricky ten-foot birdie putt at the third to get to 11 under before making another gain at the next. Norris dropped his first shot of the day at the fifth but bounced back in style, reeling off three straight birdies from the seventh to reach 14 under and open up a four-shot lead.
After carding a bogey at the tenth, the 44 year old safely parred the next two holes before notching his seventh birdie of the day at the 13th. He made another bogey on the short 15th but responded with a birdie at the long 17th to head to the 18th tee with a commanding lead. He then tapped in his par putt at the last to secure the trophy.
Player quotes
Jason Norris:
“I think it was just our week, everything aligned and putts dropped and some good shots came, it was amazing.
“I said a couple of years ago when I was about to quit, that I didn’t want to give it away until I had won a big tournament because I know I can. I said to Ace, that’s it I am quitting now (laughs) but he told me not to get too ahead of myself.
“I just tried to stay switched on and not think about the future, things come into your head you try to block them out. I was really happy with our process today.
“I played that hole badly all week so to hole a good putt on the first for birdie settled things. I just stuck to one shot at a time but I putted really well on the front nine and that is what gave it to us.”
Jazz Janewattananond:
“I am just really happy to put up a good score. It’s always good to shoot a bogey-free round. I couldn’t make any putts in the first two days but I had been hitting the ball good all week. I managed to sink some putts today and yesterday and I guess that was the key.
“I putted well to make my move up the leaderboard yesterday so I was feeling confident coming to the final round. I holed almost every putt that I had today. I am really pleased with how I played today.
“It’s my first time in Fiji and I really enjoyed myself this week. It’s a great place to be. I made the halfway cut on the number and made a big move on the leaderboard in the last two rounds. I have no complaints.”
Round four scores
274 J Norris (Aus) 69 68 70 67,
278 J Janewattananond (Tha) 74 72 68 64, J Marchesani (Aus) 71 70 67 70, D McKenzie (Aus) 68 71 72 67,
279 A Bland (Aus) 68 71 75 65, D Pearce (Nzl) 66 71 73 69, P Wilson (Aus) 68 71 70 70, W Ormsby (Aus) 69 71 66 73,
280 J Felton (Aus) 71 71 72 66, G Paddison (Nzl) 73 69 71 67, S Vincent (Zim) 73 68 68 71,
281 A Price (Aus) 72 74 68 67, M Brown (Nzl) 75 71 69 66, J McLeod (Aus) 72 70 71 68, P Khongwatmai (Tha) 72 72 68 69,
282 J Geary (Nzl) 72 73 70 67, H Bateman (Nzl) 74 66 71 71, M Sim (Aus) 69 72 70 71, T Pilkadaris (Aus) 70 73 68 71,
283 S Leaney (Aus) 71 69 70 73, S Takeyasu (Jpn) 72 72 68 71, R Gangjee (Ind) 69 72 70 72, M Long (Nzl) 77 69 67 70,
284 S Sharma (Ind) 75 71 69 69, D Bransdon (Aus) 70 73 70 71, J Wang (Kor) 72 74 70 68, S Hend (Aus) 71 66 72 75, D Lawson (Aus) 72 72 72 68, R Fox (Nzl) 73 73 71 67,
285 A Blyth (Aus) 73 69 75 68, D Brandt-Richards (Aus) 69 74 68 74, T Sinnott (Aus) 70 72 72 71, D Papadatos (Aus) 72 71 72 70, D Fox (Aus) 74 70 71 70,
286 A Dodt (Aus) 71 71 73 71, M Stieger (Aus) 71 75 69 71, A Martin (Aus) 74 70 70 72, M Weir (Can) 72 71 69 74, C Gaunt (Aus) 70 70 73 73, D Jordan (Aus) 72 69 73 72,
287 A Hall (Aus) 70 72 72 73, T Macdonald (Aus) 70 73 74 70, N Green (Aus) 72 72 73 70, A Cabrera (Arg) 72 69 72 74, P Saksansin (Tha) 75 70 74 68, V Singh (Fij) 71 72 73 71,
288 J Nitties (Aus) 72 70 73 73, R Lee (Can) 70 74 74 70, M Guyatt (Aus) 72 73 71 72, S Lee (Fij) 78 66 73 71, B Campbell (Nzl) 67 79 74 68, J Scrivener (Aus) 70 71 72 75,
289 A Quayle (Aus) 70 76 72 71, D Valente (Aus) 67 75 77 70,
290 B Rumford (Aus) 73 72 69 76, J Kruger (RSA) 72 73 74 71, J Cabban (Aus) 75 70 72 73, H Chien-Yao (Tpe) 71 74 73 72,
291 M Giles (Aus) 73 71 73 74, T Chuayprakong (Tha) 72 72 74 73, C O’Reilly (Aus) 76 69 74 72, P Cooke (Aus) 71 72 71 77,
292 G Green (Mas) 68 69 73 82, D Nisbet (Aus) 74 71 74 73, C O’Toole (USA) 76 70 78 68,
293 K Muir (Nzl) 72 71 73 77,
294 S Dartnall (Aus) 74 72 69 79,
297 A Townsend (Aus) 75 69 77 76, T Hart (Aus) 75 71 79 72,
300 L Weber (Fra) 75 69 77 79, L Wilson (Aus) 73 73 75 79,
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