Dyson delivers in Jakarta after Buckle falters

SIMON DYSON produced the tournament performance of his life to claim his first European Tour title at the Enjoy Jakarta HSBC Indonesia Open - but believed his duck might never have been broken.

The English golfer saw off the dogged challenge of Australian Andrew Buckle after a topsy-turvy, weather-hit final round at the Emeralda Golf Club.

The pair had started the final day tied at 15 under, but by the fifth hole Buckle had a one-shot lead before taking an eight on the par four sixth.

That catapulted Dyson, 28, into a three-stroke advantage, which became four with an eagle at the seventh, when a thunderstorm stopped play for two hours.

His lead was only cut by two by the end as he demonstrated consistency and a ruthless edge to take the win.

Ireland’s David Higgins had a solid enough tournament and his final round 71 gave him a total of 277, nine shots behind the leader.

Dyson said: “It’s been a long time coming. A couple of years ago I thought it might never happen but this year I honestly believed it could.

“We both made great starts and then he birdied the fifth to go one clear, so straightaway I was behind. Then he made an eight, I made a four and suddenly I was four clear.

“I felt a little bit sorry for him, but then I thought I was in this position two years ago when I was six shots clear going into the last at the Volvo China Open.

“I was throwing shots away and no-one was feeling sorry for me, I’m sure. So I stopped feeling sorry for him and decided to try to turn the screw.

“I actually said to my caddie let’s eagle this and put it out of his reach. You think that, but don’t believe it’s going to happen. I managed to do that at the next with my eagle, which was one of the best shots I’ve ever hit.”

Dyson admitted he was a little put off by the rain delay, which gave his rival the chance to regroup.

“I was in a good rhythm when the rain delay came and that knocked me back a bit. I was still hitting fairways and greens, but I wasn’t striking it as well as I had on the front nine.

“But I was still ahead and I thought ‘he’s got to make the birdies’ - and he did. He shot a great birdie on 11 and then 12 and had good chances at 14 and 15.

“I thought he’d get the 15th and I’d be one clear with three to go, but he didn’t, and when I holed mine that was the first time I thought, ‘this is mine’.

“I knew he would make a birdie at 17 and so that putt of mine was one that when I’d hit it, I knew it was in. And on the 18th I just made sure I hit the fairway and the green.”

Buckle was still upbeat after the problems he faced at his nightmare hole, focussing instead on what amounts to his best result yet in a European Tour event.

Explaining what went wrong on that hole, he said: “My tee shot was not too bad, it was just a bit to the left and landed into the rough and then it didn’t bounce out of the rough.

“Instead, it landed on top of an old divot and I took two clubs more to get out of it. I hit a shot to the pin and holed it on the eighth stroke.”

The 23-year-old made another four birdies in his round of 69, even if they were ultimately in vain.

During the rain delay, he gathered his thoughts and went out to ensure his challenge didn’t collapse.

“I was only four behind and I was hitting the ball well. If I could just keep doing what I was doing, I had my chance on the 14th and 15th holes.

“He was still in front and I could have holed them both, but this is golf. I’m happy and proud of the way I bounced back. I could have let him run away with it. Credit to Simon who played great golf and did not have any bogeys.”