China Open:PGA Championship winner YE Yang needed just two final-round birdies to win the Volvo China Open by two shots at a damp Jinji Lake International Golf Club. The 38-year-old held a one-shot overnight lead but a battling one-under-par final round of 71 was enough to top the leaderboard at 15 under ahead of Challenge Tour graduate Rhys Davies and former champion Stephen Dodd.
Yang went 50 holes from Friday afternoon without dropping a shot, although the Korean was denied a bogey-free last round on the final green after finding sand off the tee.
Fresh from posting a maiden European Tour win at the Trophee Hassan II in Morocco last month, Davies followed up a flawless third-round 65 with a bogey-free 67, meaning the Welshman did not drop a shot over his final 43 holes as he posted the best scores over the final two rounds.
Dodd, the 2004 champion, joined compatriot Davies at 13-under-par after carding four birdies in a final round of 69.
Another Welshman, Jamie Donaldson (73), had kept the pressure on Yang for much of the final round and finished with back-to-back birdies to share fourth place with Mikko Ilonen (73) and Johan Edfors (69).
Oliver Fisher, who lost his card at the end of last season, claimed a fourth consecutive top-10 finish after a closing 69 ensured seventh place.
Graeme McDowell (68), Asian number one Thongchai Jaidee (69), Nicolas Colsaerts (69), world number 16 Henrik Stenson (69), Alexander Noren (70), Ross McGowan (70), halfway leader Kim Do-hoon (72) and Pablo Larrazabal (73) all shared eighth, rounding out the top 10 at 10-under-par.
After a persistent light rain hitting the course just as the leaders began their final rounds, Yang maintained a one-shot lead over Donaldson at the turn, managing just a solitary early birdie at the second after a decision to take on the longest hole on the course in two paid dividends.
After Donaldson missed a 20-foot birdie chance at the 10th by an inch, Yang looked to be in trouble at the 11th after hitting into a deep-sided pot bunker at the side of the green, but not for the first time this week showed superb touch to chip to inside two feet.
Donaldson finally joined Yang at the top of the leaderboard with a short putt at the par-five 12th but the Welshman's luck ran out just a hole later with a three-putt double-bogey at the par three.
After missing the green off the raised tee box, his six-foot par putt lipped out before a seemingly straightforward bogey conversion from barely a foot rolled around the cup and somehow stayed above ground.
For the second time in three holes Yang again needed a deft chip to escape another deep bunker at the 13th and rolled in a four-foot par putt.
After dropping two adrift alongside Davies, Edfors and Dodd, Donaldson bounced back with a fourth birdie of the day a hole later from the edge of the green to again cut the lead to a single shot.
Yang responded with just a second birdie at the 14th after sending an eagle putt from the edge of the green six feet past having again opted to go for the par five in two.
The Korean again escaped the sand at the front of the 15th green in superb style for another par before Donaldson pushed an eight-foot birdie chance just right with three to play.
But with Donaldson missing the green at the par-three 17th and failing to make the up and down, Yang was handed a three-shot cushion with just two holes to play and the lead allowed the Korean to smile as a 10-foot birdie putt from the edge of the penultimate green lipped out.
Yang found sand off the final tee and was forced to lay up but, after overshooting the 18th green, comfortably completed the two-putt bogey for a deserved 10th career title and third on the European Tour, after landing the HSBC Champions in nearby Shanghai at the end of 2006.
Collated final round scores & totals in the European Tour Volvo China Open, Suzhou Jinji Lake Golf Club, Suzhou, China
(Gbr & Irl unless stated, Irish in bold par 72):
273Y.E. Yang (Kor) 68 66 68 71
275Stephen Dodd 69 71 66 69, Rhys Davies 73 70 65 67
276Mikko Ilonen (Fin) 68 67 68 73, Jamie Donaldson 66 68 69 73, Johan Edfors (Swe) 68 71 68 69
277Oliver Fisher 73 65 70 69
278Do-hoon Kim (Pkr) 64 69 73 72, Graeme McDowell 70 70 70 68, Nicolas Colsaerts (Bel) 69 72 68 69, Pablo Larrazabal (Spa) 66 69 70 73, Thongchai Jaidee (Tha) 64 70 75 69, Alexander Noren (Swe) 71 67 70 70, Henrik Stenson (Swe) 68 73 68 69, Ross McGowan 71 68 69 70
280Corey Pavin (USA) 67 70 73 70
281 Damien McGrane 67 73 70 71, Wen-chong Liang (Chn) 66 70 73 72, Bradley Dredge 70 70 68 73, Graeme Storm 69 69 73 70, Josh Geary (Nzl) 73 67 72 69
282Dae-hyun Kim (Kor) 70 67 75 70
283Anthony Wall 72 70 71 70, Shane Lowry 70 68 72 73, Ignacio Garrido (Spa) 70 72 69 72, Ted Oh (Kor) 73 69 71 70, Tano Goya (Arg) 70 72 73 68
284Peter Hanson (Swe) 72 67 72 73, Seung-yul Noh (Kor) 69 68 73 74, Peter Whiteford 70 70 71 73, Niclas Fasth (Swe) 71 72 68 73, David Dixon 70 72 69 73, Danny Willett 71 69 73 71, Peter Lawrie 67 72 72 73,Gonzalo Fdez-Castano (Spa) 72 70 71 71
285Christian Nilsson (Swe) 71 72 70 72, Stephen Gallacher 70 71 73 71, Sang-moon Bae (Kor) 71 69 70 75, Wen-Tang Lin (Tpe) 71 70 70 74, Joon-eob Son (Pkr) 71 72 72 70, Pablo Martin (Spa) 71 70 72 72
286David Horsey 76 68 70 72, Steven Bowditch (Aus) 72 68 70 76, Rafael Echenique (Arg) 74 70 74 68
287Soon-sang Hong (Kor) 67 71 75 74, Colin Montgomerie 72 68 72 75, Gareth Maybin 72 72 72 71, Maarten Lafeber (Ned) 71 71 71 74, Jyoti Randhawa (Ind) 74 70 70 73, Peter O'Malley (Aus) 71 71 72 73
288Matthew Millar (Aus) 72 71 70 75, Oliver Wilson 69 74 72 73
289Mikael Lundberg (Swe) 71 71 72 75, Danny Lee (Nzl) 73 71 73 72, David Gleeson (Aus) 73 70 76 70, Phillip Price 73 70 72 74, Paul McGinley 71 72 73 73, Marcus Fraser (Aus) 73 71 73 72
290Marcus Both (Aus) 74 70 73 73
291Scott Barr (Aus) 75 69 74 73, Alastair Forsyth 69 74 73 75, Hao Yuan (Chn) 72 72 73 74, Qin Xu (Chn) 74 69 74 74, Mu Hu (Chn) 69 74 75 73
292Fabrizio Zanotti (Par) 73 68 74 77, Mark Foster 75 64 77 76
293Marc Warren 71 68 73 81, Ki-sang Lee (Kor) 75 68 73 77, Stephen Dartnell (Aus) 74 70 72 77, David Howell 73 71 73 76, Tetsuji Hiratsuka (Jpn) 75 67 76 75, Kang-Chun Wu (Chn) 72 70 72 79
294David Drysdale 75 69 73 77
296Richard Lee (Nzl) 72 72 73 79
298Gui Ming Liao (Chn) 70 74 75 79