Jeev goes down in shootout to finish tied-22nd in Perth

Perth, February 19 

On Saturday, Jeev survived an eight-way playoff for five places into Sunday’s match-play segment.

Jeev and Bransdon won two holes each when the six-hole match ended and in the ensuring shootout from 93 yards, the Australian beat the Indian.

But the story on Sunday was Perth man Brett Rumford, who completed his remarkable return from injury and sketchy form over last two years with a splendid 2&1 win over Thailand’s 17-year-old prodigy, Phachara Khongwatmai. This was Rumford’s first win since 2013 in China.

In the final, Rumford won the first, fourth and fifth holes, while Phachara managed only the second.

On Saturday, Phachara had secured the last play-off spot for the match-play rounds but stormed his way convincingly into the final only to be beaten by the dominant Australian, who curiously was also the 54-hole stroke-play leader.

As the top seed, Rumford received a bye in the first round and defeated Hideto Tanihara, Wade Ormsby and Adam Bland on his way to the final at the Lake Karrinyup Country Club.

Phachara, on the other hand, had to produce a gallant effort to secure the 24th and final spot to the match-play rounds. 

He finally prevailed after his third attempt at the playoff holes on Saturday and continued to shine by overcoming Australians Sam Brazel, Lucas Herbert, Matthew Millar and Jason Scrivener before facing off with Rumford. — PTI