Australian Marcus Fraser made a curling 18-foot putt for par on the final hole yesterday for a three-under 68 to win the inaugural Maybank Championship Malaysia by two strokes over Lee Soo-min of South Korea.
Fraser trailed third-round leader Lee throughout the final round at the Royal Selangor Golf Club before taking advantage of Lee’s late collapse to claim a third European Tour victory in the event co-sanctioned with the Asian Tour.
The 37-year-old Australian, who ended a six-year title drought, finished with a 15-under total of 269 that included a bogey-free final two rounds.
Photo: AP
Lee closed with a 73 and was tied for second with Miguel Tabuena of the Philippines, who shot a final-round 68.
Former British Open champion Louis Oosthuizen shot a closing 66 and was seven strokes behind.
The 24-year-old Lee led by three strokes at the start of the day, but a double-bogey on 16 after an errant drive allowed Fraser to draw level. Tied on the 18th green, the South Korean missed his long par attempt before watching Fraser make his to clinch the tournament.
Lee then failed to convert his return putt to give Fraser his two-stroke margin.
“Unbelievable,” said Fraser, who leads the Asian Tour Order of Merit after only taking up membership at the start of the week. “Six years since the last one. My kids keep saying every time I walk out the door, ‘Hey Dad, can you bring home a trophy?’ And I’ll say, ‘I’ll try, I’ll try,’ and this time I’ll take one home and I’ll get them to take it to school for show and tell,” he said.
He was surprised by his par-saving putt on 18.
“I don’t know how I got that one to go in,” he said. “I was very nervous and looking down on the putt, I could see my putter shaking. But I just said to myself that this is one opportunity for me to win and I took a few deep breaths and holed the putt.”
Lee said he felt “nervous and pressured” over the closing holes.
“This week is very good for my golf life, but I am a little bit disappointed,” Lee said. “But ... I have three top-10s in three events now, so it is OK.”
The 21-year-old Tabuena was pleased to finish tied for second after struggling with food poisoning over the opening two rounds.
“Not being 100 percent, no complaints at all,” Tabuena said. “It kind of helped that I was not in the final group, it took some pressure off.”
Taiwan’s Hsieh Chi-hsien tied for 50th place with Italy’s Matteo Manassero and Gregory Havret and Bangladesh’s Siddikur Rahman. Hsieh carded birdies on the third, 10th and 13th to complete yesterday’s fourth round with a two-under-par 69. He finished the tournament with a total of 283.
Taiwan’s other competitors — Lee Cheih-po, Hung Chien-yao and Lu Wei-chih — missed the cut.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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