Old demon strikes Siddikur

Siddikur Rahman endured the worst day of the season, and perhaps his entire Asian Tour career, when he carded an 11-over-par (82) in the final round of the World Classic Championship in Singapore yesterday to fluff yet another chance of earning a third title on the tour.

The 30-year-old golfer had started the fourth round on top of the leaderboard, having racked up scores of 71, 71 and 69 on the three previous days at the Laguna National Golf and Country Club, which proved to be a challenging course for most golfers. And one would have thought that his consistent performance in recent times -- especially over the last six weeks when he made two top-ten finishes and didn't miss a cut in five events -- would help him brave the final round jitters. But the old demon struck once more as the two-time Asian Tour winner, who had failed to drive home the advantage from a leading in the final round quite a few times since his second Asian Tour title two years ago, lost his game completely.

While Siddikur had amassed nine bogeys over the first three rounds, he carded four bogeys and same number of double bogeys yesterday. The only birdie of the day for him came on the fifth hole, but that was hardly any consolation for a golfer who eventually slipped from the top of the leaderboard to the 30th position in a matter of 18 holes.