Maybank Malaysian Open Report

For Anirban Lahiri, A 27-year old Indian who was relatively unknown outside of Asia, Sunday's final round of the Maybank Malaysian Open brought him a life-changing, break-through triumph he'll never forget.

But for defending champion Lee Westwood and third round leader Bernd Wiesberger, it could only have come as a major disappointment.

Westwood looked almost imperious in the first round when he led with a 66.

And he still seemed to be cruising to another victory after a second round 67 at the Kuala Lumpur Golf & Country Club, one of his personal favourites, but the stocky Englishman lost momentum and the lead on Saturday with a 69 and then blew himself out of the water on Sunday when he shot a 3-over 75 to finish in a 5th-place tie at 11-under with Frenchman Gregory Bourdy, American Paul Peterson and Canadian Richard Lee.

Two shots back from Wiesberger and two clear of Westwood and Co, England's Paul Waring and Spaniard Alejandro Cañizares finished tied for third on 13 under.

Wiesberger, Austria's newest hope of winning a major, came much closer to tournament glory than Westwood, but in the end he will also have tasted the bitterness of defeat in a race he had looked set to win.

And this against a man who only three months earlier had fought his way on to the European Tour via Qualifying School.

At the start of the week, nobody would have backed Lahiri to win the Malaysia Open, but he certainly gave notice that he was in the hunt for his first Tour title when he blazed home on Saturday with 10-under 62.

Then, from the word go on Sunday, he made his intentions clear when he fired four birdies on his first five holes to begin a chase that would eventually edge him clear in a dramatic battle down the home stretch.

Wiesberger, whose sizzling 9-under 63 on Saturday had put the tall Austrian into the lead and five shots clear of Lahiri, started his final round with some impressive fire power of his own as he shot a brace of birdies.  And he was looking very comfortable - until he ran into a double bogey at the 5th that opened the door to Lahiri.

Lahiri sank a 40-foot putt at the 17th to grab the outright lead for the first time, but Wiesberger birdied the 16th to tie up the battle again.

It didn't last any longer than one hole, though.  Wiesberger badly bungled his approach at the 17th and that was enough to gift the title to Lahiri.

“I don't think it's sunk in just yet, but I'm pretty sure when it hits home it's going to be a really happy moment for me, said a beaming Lahiri after closing with a 68 that on a day of high scorers was enough to give him a one shot victory with his 16-under winning total of 272, his first European Tour title, a payday of just on 240 000 euros, a two year Tour exemption and a hoist on the World Rankings list from 73rd into a top 40 spot.

It also enabled him to become just the fourth Indian to win a European Tour title and the second to win the Malaysian Open after Arjun Atwal (2002 and 2008).

“In hindsight,” Lahiri concluded, that (final round) was one of the most crucial rounds of my career and it's fantastic when you play well at the right times.

“The Masters is definitely one of my targets. I don't know how far I'll move up (in the rankings), but I'm pretty confident now with this win I should have a pretty good chance of playing in it (The Masters).”

In the meantime, although Wiesberger ‘s fourth successive top-10 finish has lifted him into the top five on The Race to Dubai, the 29-year old was left fretting about his closing 74.

“It didn't quite finished the way I intended,” he said.

“After the hiccup on five, I didn't hit it anywhere near as good as the last 15 rounds. It's tough to say, but it is what it is and unfortunately I beat myself out of it today.”

The Top 15 Finishers

-16 Anirban Lahiri (India) 70 72 62 68 = 272
-15 Bernd Wiesberger (Austria) 70 66 63 74 = 273
-13 Alejandro Cañizares (Spain) 68 65 68 74 = 275
-13 Paul Waring (Britain) 69 68 65 73 = 275
-11 Gregory Bourdy (France)69 70 68 69 = 277
-11 Paul Peterson (USA) 72 69 64 72 = 277
-11 Richard Lee (Canada) 69 69 68 71 = 277
-11 Lee Westwood (Britain) 66 67 69 75 = 277
-10 Marc Warren (Britain) 70 71 69 68 = 278
-9 Shiv Shankar Prasad Chowrasia (India) 76 67 68 68 = 279
-8 Wade Ormsby (Australia) 73 69 71 67 = 280
-8 Richard Bland (Britain) 68 70 73 69 = 280
-8 Nathan Holman (Australia) 72 71 71 66 = 280
-7 Wang Jeung-Hun (South Korea) 77 66 67 71 = 281
-7 Scott Hend (Australia) 73 72 66 70 = 281

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