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Indonesian golfer Naraajie misses Indonesia Open trophy
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Indonesian hopeful Naraajie E. Ramadhan Putra embraces his family after finishing the final round of the 39th Indonesia Open at Pondok Indah Golf Course, Jakarta, on Sunday, Aug. 31, 2019. The 19-year-old amateur golfer finished the event in fourth position. (JP/Ramadani Saputra)
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ndonesian golf hopeful Naraajie Emerald Ramadhan Putra has learned an important lesson at the 39th Indonesia Open, not from winning, but from losing. Staying focused is mandatory from start to end, and this has been his to digest.
Having led the tournament at Jakarta’s Pondok Indah Golf Course through the third round, the 19-year-old failed to maintain his stunning performance on Sunday and had to be satisfied with finishing the event in fourth place with 12-under-par.
Before entering the final round on Sunday, Naraajie, currently number 162 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), had shown consistency in the tournament as he managed to stay under par in the first three rounds.
He had begun his journey at the US$500,000 event by carding 6-under-par 66 on Thursday. He upgraded his first-day performance with another good show on the course as he finished with 3-under-par on Friday.
Saturday was the highlight of his performance as he scored eight birdies and one astonishing eagle on the 18th hole to make up for the bogey on the 13th. He finished the third round on top with 18-under-par 198 in a total of three rounds.
With quite a comfortable 6-shot gap to second-placed Argentinian Miguel Carballo after the third round, it looked like the amateur golfer just needed to play it safe to secure the trophy and satisfy the Indonesian fans, who have been waiting for another local golfer to win the tournament after Kasiadi’s victory back in 1989.
But fortune was not with Naraajie on the sunny Sunday. Two bogeys on the front nine did not make for a good start, despite a birdie on the second hole. The situation turned a lot worse on the back nine with a host of bogeys in his game. Naraajie closed the rest of the nine holes with four bogeys and one double bogey, and another birdie on 17th hole was too little too late.
