Anthony Kang wins Malaysian Open

Anthony Kang of the USA birdied the final hole at Saujana G&CC in Kuala Lumpur to win the Maybank Malaysian Open by one shot from a group of four players: David Horsey, Prayad Marksaeng, Jyoti Randhawa and Miles Tunnicliff.

The American who plies his trade on the Asian Tour had not won a tournament on that circuit since the Myanmar Open of 2001. It’s his first victory ont the European Tour.

The 36-year-old started the week slowly with a two over par round of 74 but he bounced back with a 66 to comfortably make the halfway cut. Then rounds of 64 and 67 over the weekend were enough to secure him the trophy and a cheque for €259,164.

Kang started the final round fast with three birdies on the front nine, further birdies at the 11th and 13th saw him move to the head of the field. A dropped shot at the 15th was cancelled out by the closing birdie. “It feels wonderful,” said the American. “I’ve been playing in Malaysia since 1996 or 1997 so to finally win this event, I’m speechless. This feels like where I started to play golf so to win this tournament is just beyond beautiful.”

The best round on Sunday came from Challenge Tour graduate David Horsey. His closing 64 included a blistering back nine of 29. “I would have certainly taken that score at the start of the day but then there is a little bit of disappointment not to win having gone so close.” He said. “I managed to birdie the last three holes so I couldn't have done much more.” It was the 23-year-old’s best ever finish on the European Tour.

At the start of the week all eyes were on another American Anthony – The world number 11 Anthony Kim was the star attraction in the field when play kicked off on Thursday. But he, effectively, took himself out of the equation with a disappointing first round of 78. In the end he did well to make the cut and to finish in a tie for 33rd.

Maybank Malaysian Open Saujana Golf and Country Club, Malaysia Feb 12-15, purse €1,227,000, par 72

1    Anthony Kang (USA)    74    66    64    67    271    €259,164 T2    David Horsey (Eng)    71    68    69    64    272    €103,450 T2    Prayad Marksaeng (Tha) 69    70    65    68    272    €103,450 T2    Jyoti Randhawa (Ind)    71    69    66    66    272    €103,450 T2    Miles Tunnicliff (Eng)    71    70    63    68    272    €103,450 6    Gareth Maybin (NIR)    69    69    69    66    273    €54,425 T7    Wen-chong Liang (Chn)    65    71    67    71    274    €40,119 T7    Alexander Noren (Swe)    63    71    69    71    274    €40,119 T7    Louis Oosthuizen (RSA)    70    71    68    65    274    €40,119 10    Adam Blyth (Aus)        66    70    66    73    275    €31,100

Note: Players in bold signifies Titleist ball usage only