Dejected Dou Rues Play-Off Defeat

Great Abaco, The Bahamas: China's Marty Dou Zecheng was kicking himself after letting slip a golden chance of winning a third Korn Ferry Tour title at the Bahamas Great Abaco Classic.

The 25-year-old Dou, who was the third round leader, led by two strokes with three holes remaining in regulation play but made bogeys on 16 and 18, allowing Brandon Harkins to tie him and force a play-off.

The duo traded pars on the first play-off hole before Harkins claimed his first Korn Ferry Tour victory with a par on the second extra hole after Dou found the penalty area twice to conclude a disappointing final day at The Abaco Club.

“When you get to the point (of winning), two-stroke lead with three to play, I’m thinking of just making pars to win it. Losing is a little different, definitely. We are talking about going after a win. We’ve already got one hand on the trophy. It’s pretty tough,” said Dou, who closed with a three-under 69 and 18-under 270 total.

The three-time former Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship (2012-14) participant appeared to be cruising towards the finish line after navigating 15 holes in five-under.

However, he stumbled down the stretch as the wind picked up. He hooked a drive into the penalty area on 16 for his first bogey of the day and then sent a wayward fairway wood approach into the penalty area on the closing hole, a par-five, for another dropped shot to squander his chance.

“I was struggling into the wind. A big snap-hook on 16 and then a big slice on 18. When it gets into that (wind), it’s just my golf game. It’s nothing with my mental side, it’s nothing with anything else. I’ve got to work at it,” said Dou, who posted his second top-three finish at The Bahamas Great Abaco Classic.

“It’s just one tournament. That makes me feel it’s fine as this is only the second week of the year. I gave it a go, I gave it a good run. Brandon played really good and it was fun playing with him in the last group. A lot of tension and a lot fireworks, too,” he added.

Dou’s gallant effort extended a good start to the new season for mainland Chinese players with compatriot Carl Yuan having finished tied third in the season-opening event, The Bahamas Great Exuma Classic at Sandals Emerald Bay, last week. Yuan missed the cut this week.

Dou is in his fourth season as a Korn Ferry Tour member, having graduated to the PGA Tour as a 20-year-old rookie following the 2017 season. He finished 28th and 33rd in the 2019 and 2020-21 Korn Ferry Tour Regular Season Points Standings, respectively.

There are 50 PGA Tour cards available through the Regular Season and the Korn Ferry Tour Finals this year.