Korean Wooyoung Cho pumped his fist into the air after his 20-foot final putt smoothly rolled into the cup for a birdie.

A two-year wait to be called an Asian Tour champion was finally realized after Cho completed a dramatic conquest of the Philippine Golf Championship on a rain-soaked Sunday play at the difficult East Course of the Wack Wack Golf and Country Club in Mandaluyong City.

The 24-year-old sophomore pro golfer recovered from an opening-hole bogey with six birdies to card a 5-under-par 67 for the best fourth-round score in the Asian Tour season-opener, presented by the Philippine Sports Commission and the National Golf Association of the Philippines, and sponsored by BingoPlus.

“I think today is very good, [and what’s difficult] is the mental, my mental [is not as] its best, but what’s important is that I tried to get better and better and better. I’m like, “Okay, just get better in the next hole, so that we can score a birdie,” Cho said.

Cho, a two-time Korea Professional Golf Association (PGA) champion, closed the prestigious $500,000 event with a course record 11-under-par 277 for his first Asian Tour title and first crown outside of South Korea.

The Korean, who bagged the hefty $90,000 top purse with an additional $10,000 reward for the best round handed by Wack Wack chairman Benjamin Abalos Sr., beat Pavit Tangkamolprasert by four strokes after the Thai runner-up finished with 281.

Australian Travis Smyth, who shared the lead with Cho in a four-way tie on Day 2, dropped six strokes back for third place with a 283 total.

Rallying from two strokes down entering the rain-soaked final round, luck smiled on Cho as third round leader Karandeep Kochhar fumbled with a double bogey right on the first hole just a day after registering a 65 — the best course record in 25 years.

Despite a bogey to begin the day, Cho kept his composure and eventually overtook Kochhar for a one-stroke lead with back-to-back birdies in par-4 Nos. 2 and 3.

Consecutive birdies in holes No. 9 and 10, another in the 14th for good measure before icing it with another on the 18th sealed Cho’s triumph. 

“It really did hurt mentally, but I try to get better,” Cho said of his shaky start.

Cho, who saved his best for last after scoring 69, 70 and 71, played more comfortably on the course’s soggy conditions.

“I think the rain made it easier in this golf course. Before, when I hit the golf ball it’s a bit stiff, but after the rain, it was softer to hit. There’s more consistency in my shots,” he said.

Kochhar settled for fourth with a four-round total of 285.

Tangkamolprasert pocketed $55,000 consolation while Smyth and Kochhar got $31,500 and $25,000, respectively.

Keanu Jahns was the best Filipino finisher with a 287 in a tie at ninth to 14th place.

The Filipino-German earned $8,650 or roughly over P500,000.