LIV Golf star bogeys 18 to hand Lee Chieh-po victory at International Series Thailand
Lee Chieh-po fires a 63 to deny LIV Golf's Peter Uihlein who had been leading the International Series Thailand all weekend until the 18th hole.
LIV Golf player Peter Uihlein made his only bogey of the final round on the 18th to hand the International Series Thailand to Chinese-Taipei's Lee Chieh-po at Thai Country Club.
Uihlein, 35, had been leading the tournament ever since firing a second-round 62 and a third-round 67 saw him open up a three-shot lead.
But despite moving serenely through his final round with four birdies thru 13 holes, Uihelin was chased down by an in-form Lee, who had finished third and fourth in two of his last three events prior to International Series Thailand.
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Lee, who English name is Max, made eight birdies in a fantastic round of 7-under 63, highlighted by closing out with back-to-back birdies on 17 and 18 to post 21-under par in the clubhouse.
He then signed his card and waited for Uihlein to finish off his round in the group behind.
But Uihlein, who was attempting to win his second International Series title in three months having won at Foxhills in England during the summer, would make his sole bogey of the final round on 18 to hand victory to Lee.
Uihlein would finish on 20-under par in a tie for second alongside Canada's Richard T. Lee.
“It’s been a simply amazing week,” said Lee, who had finished runner-up on two occasions before and had five other top-five finishes, including third place in last week’s Black Mountain Championship.
“I have come close to winning many times before. Even my first year on Tour in 2015, I nearly won. I think my tee shots and my putting are getting better and better, that's why I can do even better this week.
“After last season, I changed my swing a little bit, but I knew I was on the right path, so I just kept doing it, kept working, and now it’s feeling better than last year.”
Lee, 29, then alluded to the fact he grew up playing golf with recent PGA Tour winner Kevin Yu and that he sees him as an inspiration.
For Uihlein, it marked a disappointing end to a weekend where he looked certain of racking up maximum points in the race to be crowned International Series champion.
Uihlein does at least close the gap on his American compatriot John Catlin at the top of the International Series Rankings though.
Catlin, who finished T12 on 15-under par, moves to 838.78 points but Uiihlein has clawed the deficit a little by moving to 621.10 points.
With four more International Series events left on the schedule, there is still plenty of time for Uihlein to catch Catlin.
The pursuit for International Series honours next month is much more important for Catlin, however, since the winner of the season-long race picks up a golden ticket to join the LIV Golf League in 2025.
Uihlein is already a LIV Golf player and he finished T27 (in the Open Zone) in the LIV Golf League standings for 2024.
A spokesperson for International Series has confirmed to GolfMagic that only the winner of the International Series receives a golden ticket to LIV Golf in 2025.
So should Catlin finish second to Uihlein in the standings come the end of the season, then he will fall short of a place on LIV Golf next season.
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