Louis Oosthuizen wins Maybank Malaysian Open

South Africa's Louis Oosthuizen won the Maybank Malaysian Open at the Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club by three shots from Stephen Gallacher of Scotland.

Oosthuizen, who narrowly lost out in a playoff for last week's US Masters, was left with 26 holes to complete on the final day due to weather disruptions on Friday and Saturday. He was one clear of Gallacher at the start of Sunday's play, but it looked like being a tough challenge for the 29-year-old. He must have been feeling fatigued after the battle with Bubba at Augusta, followed by a 30 hour journey across 12 time zones to make it to Malaysia.

It looked like tiredness could be a factor as Oosthuizen was caught by the Scot towards the end of round three. But Gallacher dropped a shot on the 17th and that meant Oosthuizen took a one-stroke advantage into the closing 18 holes.

There was nothing between them over the front nine as both made the turn in 34, but the South African moved further clear with a birdie at the 13th. He effectively secured the victory with a, somewhat, fortunate birdie at the 16th. It looked as though his tee shot might find the water but it just missed and Oosthuizen took full advantage of his slice of luck.

From there Louis cruised home to a fifth European Tour title.

"I thought I was going to be a lot more tired," he said. "It was a long journey to get here and I have to be honest and say that I didn't expect to play this well because of the tiredness. The one thing I did know was that the game was there so that helped a lot. I was pretty tired at points in those first couple of rounds but overall it has been great and I am over the moon with the result."

With the win, Oosthuizen has gone second in the 2012 Race to Dubai and could move as high as 12th on the Official World Golf Ranking.

Despite signing for a 69 when he actually shot 68 in round three, Stephen Gallacher was delighted with his runner's-up finish.

"I played lovely, really good," he said. "That's where you want to be - last group, second last group off on a Sunday. The more you do it, the more chances you have to get the victory."

Maybank Malaysian Open Kuala Lumpur G&CC, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 12-15 Apr, purse €1,893,893, par 72

1   Louis Oosthuizen (RSA)   66   68   69   68   271   €314,700 2   Stephen Gallacher (Sco) 67   68   69   70   274   €209,798 T3   Rafael Cabrera-Bello (Esp) 67  72   66   71   276   €97,559 T3   David Lipsky (USA)   70   67   69   70   276   €97,559 T3   Danny Willett (Eng)   69   69   67   71   276   €97,559 6   Charl Schwartzel (RSA)   64   75   70   68   277   €66,088 T7   Martin Kaymer (Ger)   70   67   71   71   279   €45,978 T7   Matteo Manassero (Ita) 70   72   68   69   279   €45,978 T7   Hennie Otto (RSA)   71   64   72   72   279   €45,978 T7   Romain Wattel (Fra)   68   68   72   71   279   €45,978

Note: Player score in bold signifies Titleist ball usage

Where next? PGA Tour - Carl Pettersson wins Heritage