Bo Van PeltLai Seng Sin
SELANGOR, Malaysia - Bo Van Pelt ran away with the Asia Pacific Classic on Sunday in hot and humid conditions, birdieing five of the last eight holes for a 7-under 64 and a six-stroke victory.
"I've watched other guys coming down 18 with a big lead and I thought, `That would be fun some day if I could do that.' And it was," Van Pelt said, "I feel like the luckiest guy in the world. I get to do what I love to do for a living."
The winner of the PGA Tour's 2009 U.S. Bank Championship in Milwaukee, Van Pelt finished at 23 under at The Mines and earned $1.3 million in the second-year event sanctioned by the PGA and Asian tours.
"I've had a couple of chances to win this year, but didn't come out on top," Van Pelt said. "Canada was a tough pill to swallow. I just wanted to learn from that and do a better job when I had the lead. I take a lot of satisfaction in how I played today."
Fellow Indiana player Jeff Overton was second after a 69.
"That was one of the best rounds of golf I've seen," Overton said about Van Pelt. "I didn't play a great round. I played a solid round. I kind of had a couple of hiccups. He birdied some holes that I bogeyed and those were huge momentum shifters."
Van Pelt pulled away with birdies on Nos. 13-15, hitting within a foot on the par-4 13th and par-3 14th and holing a 4-footer on the short par-4 15th after driving into a greenside bunker. He added a two-putt birdie on the par-5 17th.
"I played well all day," Van Pelt said. "I didn't make any bogeys. I just tried to play to game plan all week."
The 36-year-old former Oklahoma State player opened with rounds of 66, 64 and 67 to take a one-stroke lead over Overton into the final round.
"My swing felt good right at the first warmup and I kind of continued that all week and had confidence with what I wanted to do with my golf swing," Van Pelt said.
Fredrik Jacobson had a 68 to finish third at 16 under, and Cameron Tringale (64), Camilo Villegas (66) and Mark Wilson (69) were 15 under.
"I had a hard time getting the putter going yesterday and the front side today," Jacobson said. "I was lucky that I still shot 4 under on the back nine to finish third. Overall, a very good week after a month break."
Ryan Palmer carded a hole in one on the seventh hole, his first in four years.
"It was a 210 (yard) hole, playing about 195, maybe. It was one of those shots when you get to the top of the ridge I knew I had to hit it pretty hard," said the Texan.
"I flushed it right at it. It landed about 10 feet short and just kind of rolled in. When it landed I knew it looked good. I just watched it. It was like slow motion."
Palmer, 35, won a Chrysler for his ace in 2007 at the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, but there was to be no special prize this time.