2006 flashback - Dyson dazzles in Jakarta

The Enjoy Jakarta Astro Indonesia makes a return to Damai Indah Golf and Country Club from February 15-18 where England's Simon Dyson will defend his title.

Last year, Dyson, the Order of Merit winner in Asia in 2000, produced some dazzling golf to end a five year title drought, holding off talented Australian Andrew Buckle for a two-stroke victory.

After a lapse of five years, Simon Dyson was finally out of the woods.

A change in attitude and a touch of superstition proved to be good omen for the Englishman as he claimed a thrilling victory at the Indonesia Open.

His long-awaited return to winning ways came six years after a stunning rookie season where he won three times in Asia en route to the Order of Merit crown. A quick jump onto the European Tour ensued but Dyson never replicated his success abroad, admitting: "I enjoyed myself a bit too much."

But it all changed at Emeralda Golf Club when the man nicknamed "Dys" rolled the right numbers to secure a two-stroke victory over Andrew Buckle of Australia. Thailand's Thongchai Jaidee shared third place with Chinese Taipei veteran Wang Ter-chang.

"It’s been a long time coming. It was a couple of years ago that I thought it might never happen again. I can’t put it into words how good it feels," said Dyson, who totaled an impressive 20-under-par 268 and banked in US$166,660.

A superstitious person, Dyson doesn't use the number three golf balls and used only pick coloured tees in his bag during the week. "I only carried one tee in the pocket and it was a Titleist pink tee. For the rest of the four days, I never used two tees. And it was always pink. If it broke, I'd just get a new pink one," he said.

Buckle battled gamely, leading briefly with a birdie on the fifth hole but he stumbled with a costly quadruple bogey eight on the sixth during the final round en route to a 69. “I told myself to try and make a game of it. I was only four strokes behind and I was hitting the ball well. I had my chances,” said Buckle.

After his breakout season in Asia, Dyson struggled to make waves in Europe and admitted that he did not put in enough effort to match the continent's best. "My two mates Kenneth Ferrie did fantastic last year where he won nearly one million pounds and Nick Dougherty won and had a fantastic year as well. I wanted to be where they were really and I was watching what they were doing.

"I know Ken lost a lot of weight, he was going to the gym and Nick was also going to the gym and just getting fitter and feeling better on the golf course which were what they were doing. I thought it was worth a go. My dad was always saying "I just wish you give it a go, give it your all" and after five years of saying it, it has finally sunk in!

Leading final round scores
268 - Simon Dyson (ENG) 66-68-67-67
270 - Andrew Buckle (AUS) 67-69-65-69
274 - Thongchai Jaidee (THA) 66-68-72-68, Wang Ter-Chang (TPE) 66-68-70-70
275 - Scott Strange (AUS) 71-67-70-67, Matthew Millar (AUS) 71-66-70-68
277 - Shiv Kapur (IND) 72-68-66-71, David Higgins (IRL) 66-71-69-71
278 - Steven O'Hara (SCO) 71-71-70-66, Brad Kennedy (AUS) 67-72-73-66, Jose Manuel Lara (ESP) 70-72-69-67, Anders Hansen (DEN) 69-69-70-70, Peter Gustafsson (SWE) 72-65-70-71, Terry Pilkadaris (AUS) 72-68-68-70, Lu Wei-Chih (TPE) 71-70-66-71
279 - Andrew Marshall (ENG) 73-67-71-68, Thammanoon Srirot (THA) 68-69-72-70, Stephen Dodd (WAL) 69-63-74-73, 280 - Leif Westerberg (SWE) 70-67-76-67, Liang Wen-Chong (CHN) 68-73-72-67, Garry Houston (WAL) 72-69-71-68, Sam Little (ENG) 70-69-72-69, Thaworn Wiratchant (THA) 72-67-71-70, Anthony Kang (USA) 67-70-71-72, Steven Jeppesen (SWE) 67-72-69-72, Rahil Gangjee (IND) 69-67-71-73

February 10, 2007

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