With a six-under-par aggregate of 210 at Hsin Yi Golf Club, the 13-year-old upstaged his elder rivals as he swept to a heart-warming wire-to-wire win in The R&A World Amateur Golf Ranking-counting event.
Thanks to rounds of 70, 71 and a closing 69, Lo ended five strokes clear of second-placed Hsu Po-cheng with National Taiwan Sport University student Lin Chen-chu a further four shots back in sole possession of third spot.
From the outset, it was Lo, a member of Chinese Taipei’s youth training team who is half Filipino and half Taiwanese, who dominated proceedings.
It was a remarkable display that belied his tender years and the personal tragedy he has endured with the passing of his Taiwanese mother in early 2020.
Given the circumstances he has faced, Lo’s rise to prominence over the past 18 months has been especially poignant. During that period he won both the National Fall Tournament and National Winter Tournament.
Lo spent his formative years in the Philippines. It was only after he had completed his elementary school, that Lo’s mother made the decision to return to Taiwan, in order that her son could study, play golf and learn Mandarin.
“Congratulations to Miko,” said six-time Major champion Sir Nick Faldo, Founder of the Faldo Series. “What a fabulous performance. For a 13-year-old to shoot three successive sub-par scores and beat players up to six and seven years older than him is quite exceptional. I very much look forward to meeting Miko and watching him play when we gather at Vietnam’s Laguna Lăng Cô in 2022 for the Faldo Series Asia Grand Final.”
Joining Lo in Vietnam will be four other age-group winners from the Chinese-Taipei Championship – Lin Chen-chu (Boys’ Under-21 winner), Fu Huang-ma (Boys’ Under-18), Kuo Yu-tien (Girls’ Under 21) and Sophia Lin (Girls’ Under 16).
The 2020-21 Faldo Series Asia season is supported by The R&A and endorsed by the Asian Tour and the Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation.
As well as a series of qualifiers in Thailand, events are planned in Australia, Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Nepal, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam over the next few months, subject to prevailing conditions and circumstances. National finals in Hong Kong and Pakistan have already taken place this year.
Recognised as the only global amateur series for boys and girls, the Faldo Series was established in 1996, expanding to Asia in 2006. Today, 40 Faldo Series tournaments take place in 30-plus countries worldwide, touching more than 4,000 golfers each year. Past champions include Tseng Yani and Rory McIlroy, both multiple Major winners, while recent LPGA Tour winners include Thidapa Suwannapura (2010 Faldo Series Asia Grand Final Girls’ champion) and Nasa Hataoka (2016 Faldo Series Asia Grand Final Girls’ champion).
