Singapore Caltex MastersCHINGFORD-based golfer Simon Khan has put his fourth place finish in the Caltex Masters in Singapore on Sunday down as one of the major highlights of his professional career.

The 30-year-old, who plays out of the Toot Hill club near Epping and is sponsored by Woodford-based internet company ecasino.com, has never finished in a top ten place on the European Tour. The great finish, which he obtained with a seven under par, saw him walk away with over £25,000 in prize money and qualified him for the Heineken Classic at the Royal Melbourne Golf Club in Australia this week.

In the end a late challenge from China's Lian-Wei Zhang saw off a faltering Ernie Els in the battle for victory on Sunday. At one stage Khan was just one shot off the lead, but a second-round quadruple-bogey saw him slip out of contention. Nevertheless, Khan has taken a lot of heart at finishing as the highest Brit, just three shots off the pace at the Laguna National Golf and Country Club.

Speaking to us from down under Khan, who has catapulted himself up to 18th on the Volvo Order of Merit table, said: "I was really happy to finish fourth, because my goal before the tournament was to end up in the top five so that I would qualify for Melbourne.

"I played well throughout. While it was very hot, the course really suited my game and at one point I even felt I had a chance of winning it.

"In the second round I hit four over on ninth and at that stage I was one off the lead. However, I recovered well and while if I had parred that hole I would have won, golf is all ifs and buts and at the end of the day I was still happy to finish where I did.

"While getting my card at the European tour school for the last couple of years rates up there, I must say that this will certainly go down as one of the major highlights of my career to date.

"Though I have to admit that after being in the chase at the top I got a bit carried away, because when I birdie putted the 18th hole from 14ft on the final day I punched the air in delight, but then I realised that I hadn't actually won anything."

Khan, who will now find himself up against current Heineken Classic champion Els again and the likes of Nick Faldo, Paul Lawrie and Greg Norman, today (Thursday), says he will be looking to continue the great start to the season that has seen him bank just under £29,000 after his first two tournaments.

He added: "I will continue to concentrate on my own game and I have been fairly pleased with the way things have gone so far.

"I am really delighted to be here because this is one of the best courses in the world, and while I won't set myself a target at this tournament I would just love to play as well as I did last week. That will hopefully be enough to secure me another top five place and qualify me for the AMZ Tournament in Sydney."

January 30, 2003 10:30