Marcus Fraser of Australia savoured his first win in nearly six years after overnight leader Lee Soo-Min crumbled down the homestretch to hand him the inaugural Maybank Championship Malaysia today.
The win is the third European Tour title for Fraser, who carded a bogey-free three-under-par 68, and ends a drought that saw him go 119 events without a victory.
“It’s an absolute dream come true,” said the ecstatic Fraser, who takes home a victor’s purse of $500,000. It’s been six years since I last won a golf tournament and I’ve had a lot of chances and completely stuffed it up.”
He finished at 15-under, two strokes ahead of South Korea’s Lee and Miguel Tabuena of the Philippines in the tournament, which is co-sponsored by the European and Asian tours.
The final round was a two-horse race between overnight leader Lee, a South Korean youngster with K-pop looks, and the 37-year-old Aussie.
Starting with a three-stroke advantage over Fraser, Lee fought off the persistent Australian for most of the round as the playing partners matched fine iron shots on the par-71 Royal Selangor Golf Club.
But the relatively inexperienced Lee, who is just 22 and was making just his second European Tour start, opened the door on the par-four 16th with a double-bogey that allowed Fraser to draw level.
After they both parred the short 17th, Lee got into trouble again on the par-four closing hole, leaving Fraser with a par putt to win it.
“I wasn’t sure how I actually held on to the putter on that last one. I was pretty nervous and I could see the putter head shaking,” Fraser said.
But he bent it in for the win, leaving Lee to mop up with a double-bogey.
Lee, who shot a dazzling third-round 64 on Saturday, later admitted he wilted under the pressure of closing out the tournament. He finished with a two-over 73.
But it was the second recent strong performance by the South Korean, who finished tied for third in the Hong Kong Open in October.
Nathan Holman, a 24-year-old from Melbourne who won the Australian PGA title in December, had led the tournament the first two days.
But he gave up the lead late in the third round and struggled to find a rhythm Sunday, posting a one-over 72 to finish in eighth place.
England’s world number 13 Danny Willett had been considered the favourite in Malaysia after winning the Dubai Desert Classic two weeks ago, but played himself out of contention with weekend rounds of 73 and 75.
The tournament is the successor to the long-running Malaysian Open, which has been discontinued due to a sponsorship realignment.
Marcus Fraser
