Mardan

Mamat

He didn’t make the cut but the DQ means that he’s ineligible for what’s being described at “2,600 pounds sterling prize money for those who missed the halfway cut.” Mamat signed for a 2-over-par 72, which was accurate, but he made two offsetting errors on his front nine. First, he penciled in a 3 instead of a 4 on the par-4 sixth hole, and then marked down a 5 instead of a 4 on the par-4 eighth.

The Singapore veteran reached the midpoint in 9-over-par 77-72=149 and wasn’t going to make the cut anyway. The timing of the DQ implies that he signed for an incorrect scorecard, but we will confirm if an explanation is released.

In fact, he finished just one shot out of the playoff although birdies at 16 and 18 and a par at the tough 17th meant he grabbed third in positive fashion rather than let victory slip. His second weekend round of 67 started inauspiciously with three pars and a bogey before he reeled off three straight birdies from the fifth. He cooled with eight straight pars before finishing strongly. This is a nice return to form for the veteran from Singapore, who hadn’t bettered T46 in four starts in 2015.

The top 10 available from the Asian Tour Order of Merit (as of October 26, 2015) get the invite to the exclusive 78-man no-cut CIMB and at No. 12, Mamat gets the nod. He’s made 13 starts in 2015 on the Asian Tour and collected USD$149,442, including his fifth victory in 235 career starts. Mamat began the year as the 428th-ranked player in the world and has bumped to No. 305 primarily on the strength of his two-stroke win at the Bashundhara Bangladesh Open at the end of May, and solo third at the tri-sanctioned AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open three weeks prior. In 10 starts since the win (spread over four tours), he’s missed five cuts, including last week in Hong Kong, with nothing better than T28. The Singaporean, four days shy of his 48th birthday (Oct. 31), has not played the CIMB since T5 in the 2010 inaugural at The MINES Resort and Golf Club. He has teed it up at the Maybank Malaysian Open at KLGCC six times posting: MC/2015, MC/2014, T40/2013, T33/2012, T66/2011, MC/2010.

The veteran from Singapore had been treading water for most of his round, carding three bogeys against two birdies over his first 12 holes. But a birdie at 14 provided the catalyst for a big finish and he circled further red at 15, 17 and 18 to post a second straight 69 and return a halfway total of 6-under 138. That’s five behind halfway leaders Peter Uihlein and Brett Rumford. Mamat split 10 (of 14) fairways and, for the second day running, hit 12 greens in regulation and took 27 putts.

The 48-year-old has made 31 starts in India and no less than 18 of them were at the tight, tree-lined New Delhi layout. It’s one thing to visit a course regularly, but Mamat also boasts plenty of success there. He was T6 in the Hero Indian Open in 2002 and a winner in 2004. He was also second on the track in the Asian Tour’s Panasonic Open in 2011. Less encouragingly he has two missed cuts and finished T58 in his last three visits. He also has three missed cuts in his last five starts, but he was T8 in Perth just a few weeks ago and, if you add in his solo third at the Mauritius Open back in May, it proves he can still perform in this grade of company.

The man from Singapore was T6 on this track when it staged last year’s King’s Cup and also T14 in the 2010 Black Mountain Masters. Although he’s now 47, Mamat is still a force in these parts and captured his fourth Asian Tour victory in style last year when winning the Resorts World Manila Masters by six shots. This is a step up given the strong European contingent in the field but Mamat could still pop up on the leaderboard.