Pagunsan carded a closing round of two-under-par 68 for 10th place to add US$55,000 to his season's haul of US$788,298. It gave him an unassailable lead with one event remaining as none of his closest challengers threatened to win PING G20 Irons with steel shafts
at the Hong Kong Golf Club.

The 33-year-old Filipino will be officially crowned Asia's new number one, replacing Korea's Noh Seung-yul, at the season-ending US$1 million Thailand Golf Championship at the Amata Spring Country Club from December 15-18. The Awards Gala will be held on December 18.

After entering the month of November as the 64th ranked golfer, the sweet-swinging Pagunsan emerged as the unlikeliest of Merit champions, thanks largely to a tied ninth finish at the Mercuries Taiwan Masters and an impressive runner-up outing at the lucrative Singapore Open which earned him a whopping US$666,660.

As Asia's number one, Pagunsan will be exempt into the British Open and World Golf Championship-Cadillac Championship in 2012.

"It sounds really good," said Pagunsan when told he had done enough to win his first Merit title.

"I accept that it's one of the biggest achievements in my entire life. I'm really surprised. Everyone dreams to get the Order of Merit on the Asian Tour. I wasn't expecting that this year. My ranking before the Singapore Open was dangerous and suddenly I just jumped to number one. It's a big, big opportunity to win the Order of Merit."

Pagunsan conceded that he felt the pressure before the start of the week as a big cheque of US$458,330 was up for grabs at the UBS Hong Kong Open.

"Yeah, it was big pressure as anyone from second to the 10th place on the rankings still had a chance to catch up. It was big pressure for me to play