Published July 17, 2008 on October 14, 2018

Leishman Emerges as the First International Champion of the CIMB Classic

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Marc Leishman secured a stunning victory at the CIMB Classic to become the first Australian and non-American to win the US$7 million tournament on Sunday.

The 34-year-old Leishman posted a final round seven-under-par 65 to claim his fourth PGA TOUR title and broke the stranglehold of the Americans, who have triumphed in the last eight editions.

With a winning total of 26-under-par 262, the Australian dominated the event with a five-shot victory over Argentina’s Emiliano Grillo (66), Chesson Hadley (66) and first-round leader Bronson Burgoon (68). His winning score also equalled the low four-day total set by Justin Thomas in 2015.

Leishman was hot at the get-go, making four straight birdies on the second hole before adding further birdies on holes nine and 10. He dropped a shot on 13 but his lead was never threatened as he marked his card with further birdies on 16 and 18.

Leishman said,  “I feel unbelievable right now. On Tuesday I got here and I thought I was going to have to call Callaway and get them to leave some more golf balls in my locker, I was hitting my driver a bit sideways. Sorted that out and this is the result.

“The golf course was amazing. Yesterday started off great and struggled on the back nine, but I think that helped me today. I knew that even though I got off to a good start, I still needed to grind because there are some tough holes out there. Managed to hit some good shots  and it’s great to get back in the winner’s circle, excited to be back in Malaysia and leaving with this.”

With the victory, Leishman earned a cool prize purse of US$1.26 million. Aside from winning the prize money and the avant-garde CIMB trophy, Leishman also received an Enrich Platinum – OneWorld card from Malaysia Airlines Bhd’s Group Cheif Marketing Officer Arved Von Zur Muehlan. It is the highest level membership card and MAS also extended the honour to Mrs Leishman.

There was heartbreak for joint overnight leader Shubhankar Sharma, who was aiming to become only the second Indian to win on the PGA TOUR. He settled for tied-10th place following a 72 in his debut at the event

Sharma said, “My start was not as good, but I came back really strong. I made four birdies in a row and I was really happy with the way I was playing and I knew I had a chance. We had to wait, there was some wait on the 11th hole and I was in between clubs so I was trying to hit a soft rescue and that was probably one of the worst swings of the day and that ended up in the water. After that, it was just a trend of hitting bad shots. Even the next hole after that I hit it in the bunker, I had a relatively easy shot and I duffed it and couldn’t make up and down. Even on the next hole I was in the fairway, hit a good second shot to the left. So that 11th hole I think killed the momentum for me. A par there would have gone a long way and I probably could have made more birdies after that.

“Great experience. Very, very good to have two top-10s on the PGA TOUR, so that’s a good way of looking at it. Also, it pushes me to keep playing well. I feel like I have it in me to win out there on the PGA TOUR and I’ve given myself two opportunities. The game is in a decent place now. The next two weeks are also big events, so anything is possible in this game. So I’ll just try and keep at it and let’s see what the next two weeks bring.”

Thomas, searching for a third CIMB Classic victory, made a final day charge with a 64 but had to settle for a share of fifth place with Major winner Louis Oosthuizen, Ancer Abraham, Charles Howell III and Gary Woodland.

Malaysia’s Ben Leong a par 72 round for total 7-under 281. He is tied in 54^thposition with four other golfers. Jeremiah Kim posted a one-under final round to finish 13-over 301 for the 78^thspot.

“It’s been an up-and-down week, a lot of birdies and bogeys. I mean, that’s golf. You can’t have it every day or every week. Learn from it and move on and try not to make the same mistakes,” said Leong.