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HISTORY OF THE SINGAPORE OPEN
In the first of a twopart series, we take a look at the history of the Singapore Open, a tournament founded in 1961 and hosted at Sentosa Golf Club since 2005…
A Scott
271
2005
A Scott
205 (54 holes)
2006
OPEN SEASON
Just 12 months ago Matt Kuchar went lower than any player had gone in the history of the SMBC Singapore Open at Sentosa. He missed just three fairways, averaged 310 yards off the tee and hit 15 of 18 greens – come the end of his third round he had gone round in just 62 shots, one better than the previous best of 2007 champion Angel Cabrera, South Africa’s George Coetzee and Younghan Song of Korea, who won in 2016.
The general perception of The Serapong course is that it’s a bit of a brute and at 7,400 yards these types of rounds simply don’t just happen. The next best effort last year were a small collection of 65s.
A Cabrera
267
2007
JM Singh
277
2008
I Poulter
274
2009
A Scott
267
2010
G F-Castano
199 (54 holes)
2011
Australia’s Travis Smyth, who tied for 11th, described it as ‘insane’.
A day later the American went even deeper, mentally at least, to get over the line after an horrific eight at the 7th. A tree stump got in the way, literally, of his recovery and that air shot and some bushes added up to the triple-bogey. Going into the hole with a four-shot lead over the defending champion Jazz Janewattananond the pair exited the 7th green all square. “Strange things happen on the golf course, but I was able to regroup straightaway. My caddy (John Wood) also had a few quick words, telling me not to let that rattle me. In life you have a lot of similarities in that you face some difficult times and it’s how
M Manassero
you persevere, how you overcome those things that counts,” explained Kuchar.
Since the move to Sentosa in 2005 one player has dominated affairs in particular. Of Adam Scott’s 31 wins around the world three have come here and there has been a bit of everything about the hat-trick of successes. The first gave him his first national title and he finished seven clear of Lee Westwood in second, the following year he defended for the first time in a three-hole play-off with Ernie Els and, in 2010, he made it three wins in six years. The hattrick was completed on the Monday when he put the finishing touches to a three-shot win and it remains his most successful tournament.
“It’s one of those things and I’ve just managed to play well here. I stand on the tee and my ball ends up in the fairway more often than not over the years. It seems fairly generous in spots, but you still have to be quite precise. It has really big greens but if you hit it a long way from the hole you’re really going to struggle. It just fits my eye,” Scott explained. More history was made in 2012 when Matteo Manassero became the first teenager to win three times on the European Tour and he did it in style after a gruelling final day. After 33 Oosthuizen couldn’t be separated and the South African, who was undone in extra holes at Augusta earlier that year, then watched as the young Italian made a sensational eagle from just 12 feet. The second place meant that Oosthuizen could no longer catch Rory McIlroy, in third spot, as he wrapped up the money list double on both the European and PGA Tours.
Cabrera’s 63 in 2007 came about in bizarre circumstances and resulted in a spectacular conclusion. The Argentinian, who was now the US Open champion, saw the head of his driver come off in an opening 71. The following day, after some overnight repairs, he blazed round in 63, with nine birdies, to claim a two-shot lead. The previous month Cabrera had been smashed 6&4 by Ernie Els in the final of the World Match Play, now he had beaten the South African by 14 shots.
Come Sunday Cabrera hit an enormous drive up the 18th to set up a 6-iron approach and sole birdie of the day and a one-shot win over a fast-finishing Vijay Singh. “I like challenges, I like tough courses,” said Cabrera.
Adam Scott holds the record for most victories at the Singapore Open*
There have been some stellar names who have finished the week on top of the leaderboard. In between Scott’s heroics we’ve had Ian Poulter prevailing in 2009 and Sergio Garcia romped home by five shots in 2018. Since 2017 there have been four spots available for The Open Championship. In 2016 we very nearly had another major champion prevailing over The Serapong course, but it was a 24-year-old, Younghan Song, ranked
holes on the Sunday he and Louis
271
2012 2013-2015
EVENT NOT PLAYED Y Song
272
2016
P Marksaeng
275
2017
S Garcia
270
2018
J Janewattananond
271
2019
M Kuchar
266
2020
Thailand’s Jazz Janewattananond celebrates victory at SGC in 2019*
Jordan Spieth and Younghan Song share a selfie at the post-round press conference in 2016*
Matt Kuchar currently holds the record for the lowest winning score with 266* England’s Ian Poulter en route to victory in 2009*
203 places below the World No. 1 Jordan Spieth, who took the title. Their final moments added another very different chapter to the history of the tournament.
After a thunderstorm Spieth returned to the course on Monday morning to take a five-foot birdie putt on the 18th and he managed to knock it in for a 66 and 11-under total.
“I had my first perfect round,” Spieth joked about his one-shot day. “Everything was absolutely perfect. I didn’t miss one shot and I made everything I looked at. It was tough to sleep on that putt. Even though it wasn’t the most challenging putt, it was still a very nerve-wracking one to hit knowing that you have to make it for what you think will be a play-off.” Song, who began the final round with a five-shot lead, returned to the 16th green at 7.30am with a crucial par putt and a one-shot advantage. His Sunday night had been spent practising the putt in his hotel room. “I felt like I was going crazy. The putting line wasn’t that bad, but the situation made me nervous.”
Song parred in for a 70 and his first professional victory — after the trophy presentation he asked for a selfie with the American.
“Somebody asked me why I was taking a picture with the other contestant, even though he’s a superstar, and some people told me I was humorous and cute. I enjoy new situations so I took a commemorative picture with him because we play in different tours and who knew when we would meet again. I didn’t upload it because it was just for me.”
