European Tour:Peter Lawrie, who started the final round in fourth place, had to settle for a share of eighth as Liang Wen-Chong of China held his nerve to win a play-off against Iain Steel of Malaysia and claim the Singapore Masters title yesterday.
After a tense afternoon at the Laguna National Golf and Country Club, the 28-year-old Chinese player claimed top spot in the event, which is jointly sanctioned by the European and Asian Tours.
After three rounds that yielded 17 birdies, Lawrie could only muster two - at the seventh and 17th - in a disappointing final round of 74 for an eight-under-par total of 280.
Meanwhile, Liang edged out Steel in the first hole of a play-off that England's Simon Dyson missed out on by a single stroke.
The York-born player started the day on nine under but, after picking up two shots to move into contention, he failed to hole a four-foot putt to drop a shot on the 16th and spurned a birdie chance on the last green.
That left Steel and Liang level at the top, and Dyson had to watch as Steel teed off into the water on his way to a double bogey - allowing Liang to claim the title with par.
Dyson said: "I should have won, I should have won," the 29-year-old lamented. "You just need a bit of luck to win tournaments and I am just not getting any. I didn't have any in Malaysia and I haven't had any today."
Liang held his nerve to become only the second player from China to win an event on the European Tour, following in the footsteps of Zhang Lian-Wei, who won the same event on the same course in 2003.
The victory delighted the Zhongshan native, who showed his mental resilience by recovering from a double bogey at the par-five 15th to finish with a one-over-par round of 73. That left him on an 11-under-par total of 277.
"I'm very happy and very relaxed. It is a great result for me," said Liang, who intends to donate all of his prize money to golf development programmes in China.
"I didn't play well on the 15th but I never gave up. I birdied the next hole and I managed to come through with the victory at the end."
Steel had appeared to be on course for victory earlier after picking up his fifth birdie of the day to move to 13 under with three holes to play.
However, the Malaysian double-bogeyed the 16th after missing a bogey putt from two feet to finish with a 71.
"I hit a tree out of the right rough and then misjudged the chip and three-putted from there," said Steel of his misadventures at the 16th.
"That was pretty much the story, but I had another chance to win at the play-off. I was quite confident and had a picture in my mind off the tee. But I just didn't execute, simple as that."
Nick Dougherty looked to be in good shape for a second Singapore Masters title in three years when he holed consecutive birdies at the 14th and 15th, but back-to-back double bogeys at the next two holes saw him finish tied for fourth on nine under with English compatriots Anthony Wall (67) and David Lynn (69) and Jean Van de Velde of France (68).
Craig Smith of Wales closed with a 67 to finish tied for eighth on eight under with Jyoti Randhawa of India (75), Scott Barr of Australia (70), Lin Keng-chi of Chinese Taipei (70) and Australia's Terry Pilkadaris (72).
Cumbrian player Gary Lockerbie, who held the joint overnight lead with Liang, saw his challenge fade after starting badly with a series of bogeys on the front nine as he carded an 80 to finish on a four-under 284, seven shots off the pace.
