Australian golfer Kurt Barnes could hardly believe his fortune after being declared winner of the OneAsia Tour's SK Telecom Open without playing a shot in the fourth round.
The round was cancelled when fog failed to lift after a four-hour delay at the Pinx Gold Club in South Korea.
Long-hittingBarnes was the more amazed because he'd gone very close to withdrawing before the first round due to a shoulder injury.
His clutch up and down for par at the 18th in a third round of 67 proved to be the difference as he won by one stroke from South Korean star Kim Kyung-tae, last year's Japan tour Order of Merit winner.
"It's unbelievable. On Tuesday I probably wasn't even going to play," said 29-year-old New South Welshman Barnes, who moved into third place on the OneAsia Order of Merit.
Barnes revealed the only reason he'd decided to press on and play the event was because he was linking with new caddie Simon Clarke.
"If I had just a house caddie on the bag, I would have probably pulled the pin on Tuesday afternoon without a second thought and got everything checked out," He said.
"But I wanted the opportunity to play and work with Simon as a team and see how we gelled, so to be crowned champion is massive.
"Looking back on it, the par putt I made on 18 was probably the biggest putt of my career.
"I hope that this is a new beginning."
After beginning with a 71, Barnes blazed a course record-equalling 64 in the second round to storm into contention.
The 2009 champion Park Sang-hyun of South Korea finished third four shots off the pace.
Australia's Ashley Hall claimed fourth a further two shots adrift.
