Marc Leishman turned a good year into a great one in the time it took for him to smash the field in the US PGA Tour’s CIMB Classic in Kuala Lumpur today.
Leishman, 34, secured his fourth career US tour win with a stunning final-round 65 at TPC Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, putting the icing on his victory with a birdie at the last hole.
Rounds of 68-62-67-65 gave him a five-shot win, the most dominant of his career at an astonishing 25-under par. Three players tied-second at 21-under par.
He had been winless in more than a year after his groundbreaking 2017, although he had been consistent, logging two second places in 2018 and reaching the 30-player Tour Championship.
Starting the final round today in a share of the lead, the man from Warrnambool on the Victorian west coast soared to the early ascendancy with four birdies in the first five holes. Another with a bomb from long range and the ninth confirmed that he was on his way to a win.
Three shots ahead for most of the back nine, he made just one bad mistake, leading to a bogey from the greenside trap at the 13th. But it was just his fourth bogey of the week. In a field that included the world No. 4 Justin Thomas, he was by far the best player for the time.
At the 16th hole, he put the hammer down. Still three ahead, his tee shot on the par-four rolled into a sand-filled divot on the fairway. Nerveless, he gouged out his approach shot to five metres and rolled the birdie putt in to extend the lead to four shots.
By the time he reached the 18th tee he had a triumphal march to make, joking and chatting with caddie and close friend, Matt Kelly, then wedging in close and rolling in the putt.
‘‘I know the kids will be very happy I’m bringing home a trophy,’’ he told the tournament broadcaster.
Leishman will leap back into the mid-teens on the official world rankings having climbed as high as 12th at the start of this year
He will partner Queenslander Cameron Smith in World Cup of Golf on the Melbourne sandbelt from November 21 and his win yesterday will be good news for the organisers of that event.
‘‘It’d been over a year since I’d won,’’ he said. ‘‘I’d had a few chances and hadn’t capitalised. I’m playing Korea next week, World Cup later in the year, the Australian PGA [Championship], so we’ll try and win something else before the end of the year.’’
Smith, the only other Aussie in the field, finished tied-22nd at 16-under par.
Meanwhile in Korea, Australia’s Minjee Lee continued her remarkable season finishing tied-third in the Hana Bank Championship on the LPGA Tour.
Lee had a chance to win on the final day but a double bogey on the 16th hole undid her. Ultimately Korea’s In Gee Chun blew everyone away with a final-round 66.