KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Marc Leishman shot a 7-under 65 in the final round to win the CIMB Classic Sunday by five strokes and equal the tournament course record.
The Australian was in fine form as he strolled to his fourth PGA Tour title and matched Justin Thomas’ tournament record of 26-under 262 in 2015 on the PGA Kuala Lumpur West course.
Leishman started strongly with four birdies in the first five holes, before turning in another long birdie putt on the ninth for 31.
Two more birdies on the 10th and 16th followed and sandwiched his lone bogey at the 13th, before he birdied the final hole and celebrated with a fist pump.
“I feel unbelievable right now,” Leishman said after securing 500 FedEx Cup points for his victory.
“I knew that even though I got off to a good start, I still needed to grind because there’s some tough holes out there. Managed to hit some good shots and this is the result. It’s great to get back in the winners’ circle, excited to be back in Malaysia and leaving with this.”
Leishman plans to celebrate his victory “with some beers.”
“We’ll sit that (trophy) in the middle of the table tonight and have a few beers and just talk about it and just have a good night with friends really. I’m looking forward to doing that tonight.”
First-round leader Bronson Burgoon shot a 68 to finish tied for second, along with Emiliano Grillo and Chesson Hadley.
Thomas finished tied for fifth place after ending the final day with an 8 under 64, along with Gary Woodland (71) and Louis Oosthuizen (69).
Shubhankar Sharma, part of the trio of joint-leaders coming into the final round, faltered on the final day to finish tied for 10th after an even-par 72.
“Disappointing, not really happy with the way I finished. But again, as always, a great experience for me going forward and I think my game is in a good state for the next two weeks,” Sharma said.
The CIMB Classic is the first of three events in Asia. The tour moves on to the CJ Cup in South Korea next week and the World Golf Championships in Shanghai starting on October 25.
