MALAYSIAN OPEN:ARJUN ATWAL was delighted to taste victory for the first time in five years after his play-off triumph over defending champion Peter Hedblom at the Maybank Malaysian Open yesterday.
Atwal began the day seven shots behind overnight leader Hedblom, but fired a superb, eight-under-par 64 in a weather-interrupted final round at Kota Permai Golf and Country Club in Kuala Lumpur to draw level with the Swede on 18 under.
The two halved the first play-off hole with pars, but after Hedblom three-putted from 40 feet for bogey at the second extra hole, the par-three 17th, Atwal coolly sank a four-foot par putt to regain the title that he first won in 2003.
"It hasn't sunk in yet. Right now I'm in a different world," Atwal said. "I've been playing pretty solid the last four weeks but it's been the same thing. I've been in the top-15 and haven't been able to get up the last few weeks."
Atwal raced into contention with eight birdies through his first 15 holes, before play was suspended for two hours and 20 minutes in mid-afternoon due to a thunderstorm.
The 34-year-old from Calcutta parred the 16th and 17th before holing a clutch 12-foot birdie putt at the last to take the clubhouse lead on 18 under.
"Today, I kind of relaxed right on the first hole and chilled out and never thought of making a score and started making birdies," Atwal added.
"By the time I birdied 10 and 11, I looked at the leaderboard and knew I had a chance."
Hedblom had a chance to win the tournament in regulation but saw his birdie putt at the 18th stop right on the lip of the cup as he finished with a one-under 71.
"That putt on the 18th was in but how it didn't drop, I don't know," said Hedblom, who has yet to win a play-off on the European Tour in three attempts. "It just hung on the edge. That was sad.
"It was a good defence. You are never happy when you lose and I thought I had a good chance to win.
"But I am proud of myself for the way I defended my title because I holed some great putts under pressure."
Darren Clarke was in good shape after moving to within a stroke of the lead with a run of three consecutive birdies at the start of the back nine.
But the Ulsterman bogeyed the 15th after he came up short with his approach, and bogeys at the 17th and 18th and the stoppage saw him finish in a share of 10th place on 14 under.
"It's disappointing - I didn't play well on the front nine but on the back nine I had lots of chances and played well enough to be at the top of the leaderboard but, unfortunately, I'm not," said Clarke.
Final scores
270 -A Atwal (Ind) 70 68 68 64, P Hedblom (Swe) 66 68 65 71 (Atwal won play-off at the second extra hole).
271 -S Dyson (Eng) 64 71 67 69, K Webber (Aus) 67 71 68 65.
272 -F Molinari (Ita) 67 69 71 65.
273 -D Lynn (Eng) 70 68 70 65, J Randhawa (Ind) 67 65 70 71, C Schwartzel (Rsa) 71 66 67 69, D Vancsik (Arg) 65 72 64 72.
274 -D Clarke (N Ire) 69 68 67 70 (€25,285), J Edfors (Swe) 72 68 69 65.
275 -S Barr (Aus) 68 68 68 71, M Fraser (Aus) 64 72 72 67, K Horne (Rsa) 65 72 72 66, C Rodiles (Spa) 66 69 71 69, G Storm (Eng) 69 68 70 68.
276 -R Jacquelin (Fra) 68 69 69 70, G McDowell (N Ire) 66 68 71 71, G Murphy (Ire) 70 67 73 66 (both €16,725), C Phadungsil (Tha) 67 70 70 69.
277 -N Dougherty (Eng) 62 70 72 73, D Frost (SA) 70 67 70 70, S Kjeldsen (Den) 65 68 69 75, P Lawrie (Ire) 69 67 72 69 (€14,486), S Strange (Aus) 66 71 72 68.
278 -F Aguilar (Chl) 70 70 67 71, M Brown (NZ) 66 73 70 69, R-J Derksen (Net) 66 69 72 71, S Drummond (Sco) 72 66 72 68, J-F Lucquin (Fra) 71 69 70 68, A Murakami (Phil) 69 71 73 65, Z Lian-Wei (Chn) 68 68 74 68.
279 -A Haig (Rsa) 68 71 70 70, R Lee (NZ) 70 70 70 69, M Mamat (Sin) 72 65 70 72, I Steel (Mal) 70 69 72 68.
280 -T Bjorn (Den) 72 67 73 68, M Erlandsson (Swe) 69 67 71 73, G Ghei (Ind) 67 71 72 70, S Little (Eng) 73 67 68 72.
281 -H Buhrmann (Rsa) 71 69 69 72, D Chia (Mal) 65 67 80 69, JM Lara (Spa) 68 67 76 70, T Pilkadaris (Aus) 69 69 71 72, J Van de Velde (Fra) 71 68 72 70.
