David Ali won the final Masters (Amateurs) tournament of the year on Sunday.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Ali won the tournament with a total of 301 gross and 13 over pars over 72 holes.
According to the Tournament Director, Ndubuisi Okeya, who confirmed the result to NAN, three players who proved themselves as the top contenders in the recently concluded masters tournament took home the prize money for their efforts.
Ali, according to Okeya, was more resilient over the course of the four-day outing and finished with a victory.
“The confident player, who began the game on a high note with a score of 1 under par in his first round, built a two-stroke lead until day three, when he faltered.”
“However, he rebounded superbly to keep his position atop the leaderboard and smile home with a whopping cash reward of N250,000,” he said.
He quoted Ali as saying, “I missed a lot of opportunities, but I’m excited that I could make it to the top three; that was my ultimate goal at this tournament, and I’m glad I was able to achieve that.”
“I’ve learned so much that I plan to put it into action next year.” “I am thankful for this opportunity.”
The tournament director mentioned that the tenacious Uchenna Anuoro was only two strokes behind in second place.
“The player, who expected to repeat Saturday’s move up the leaderboard board, faltered in the final round, shooting 10 over par 82.”
“In the third round, he ascended to the top of the leaderboard but failed to maintain it,” he explained.
Anuoro was quoted as saying that he was thrilled to finish third in the tournament and that he expects even better results next year.
“I’m a little disappointed with my golf performance today,” he said, “but I’m not discouraged; I’m just more eager to succeed next year.”
According to NAN, Anuoro received a cash prize of N150,000 for his first-place finish.
“It wasn’t first place, but it’s the top and final three, and that’s good enough for John Alex, who worked hard to displace J. Moses and finish in the top three in the survival of the fittest.”
“He had to settle for third place and a N100,000 cash prize.”
The tournament director went on to say that Joseph Moses, who performed admirably but did not make the final top three, was close behind.
“However, he was still first in the tour’s order of merit and would be leaving with a whopping N100,000 cash prize.”
“He settles in fourth place with the highest stroke lead of 18 shots, ahead of Bolu Gbadagesi and Austin Okeoma, who rank fifth and sixth on the leaderboard,” he said.