Australian golfer Rodger Davis (right), famous for his plus-fours worn with long socks, dons traditional Cambodian garb for post-tournament festivities at the Victoria Angkor Resort after his decisive win in the Victoria Angkor Resort Pro-Am in Siem Reap. Photo by: Hanno Stamm

Siem Reap

A masterclass in golf by former World Top 10 player and 1987 British Open runner up, Rodger Davis, saw him cruise to victory in the Victoria Angkor Resort Pro-Am tournament in Siem Reap on Friday.

The 59-year-old Australian golfing legend finished with a ten under par 278 total from the four days of play, a whopping 13 shots ahead of his nearest rival, Steven Morshuis, an Australian PGA Seniors Tour player.

Although Davis’ best round at the Angkor Golf Resort was a first day 68 on Tuesday, his biggest crowd-pleasing performance was on the final day on Friday when he hit a 69, including birdies on holes five, six, eleven and thirteen.

Angkor Golf Resort manager Adam Robertson was delighted that a player of Davis’ calibre signed up to compete in the Pro-Am in Cambodia, and was doubly delighted by the veteran’s display.

“His first day play, when he came in at four under with a score of 68, really set the tone for the standard of golf that he was going to play throughout the four days,” said Robertson. “It was always on the cards that he was going to win – it was just a matter of who came second, and how much Davis won by.”

Old habits die hard for the nattily-dressed Davis, who still smokes cigarettes incessantly while playing.

In this year’s Victoria Angkor Resort Pro-Am, a field of 15 professional golfers and 37 amateur golfers from Australia competed over four rounds with stroke play used for the professionals, and a stableford scoring system used for amateurs. It was the second such Pro-Am event to be held at the Angkor Golf Resort after a tournament played two years ago.

Heavy rain delayed play on Wednesday’s second day, but despite rain squalls occurring every evening after play and with a large part of Siem Reap flooded, the Nick Faldo-designed course managed to cope.

“I don’t want to be seen as blowing our own trumpet, but the pros here were quite amazed that the course was still playable, given the amount of rain that we had,” said resort manager Robertson. “I put that down to good design, proper drainage, and the fantastic maintenance team we have.”