PGA TOUR / Marc Leishman wins CIMB Classic by five strokes

Australia’s Marc Leishman has claimed his fourth PGA Tour trophy with a five-stroke victory at the CIMB Classic.

Marc Leishman carded a final round 5-under par 67 to win the CIMB Classic in Kuala Lumpur by an emphatic five strokes.

The win was Leishman’s first in just over a year since he won the 2017 BMW Championship,  his fourth PGA Tour victory and the 12th professional win of his career.

Leishman’s closing birdie at the par-5 18th hole on Sunday took the boy from Warrnambool to a whopping 26-under par for the week (68, 62, 67, 65) tied the four round tournament record.

“I got off to a really strong start and then kept it going,” Leishman said after the round.

“Yesterday struggled a little bit on the back nine, there were some tough holes out there, so I was really wary of that and knew that I had to keep my head down and keep playing really hard.”

“So it was very nice to get a bit of a lead to come up the last and enjoy it like I did, and to birdie it,that’s something I’ll remember forever.”

Leishman was in a three-way tie for the lead going into the final round of the CIMB Classic with India’s Shubhankar Sharma and American Gary Woodland.

But like each day this week, Leishman put his foot down on the front nine making four birdies in his opening five holes and making the turn a few shots ahead of his nearest rivals.

Leishman finished the tournament at 19-under par with just the one bogey on the front nine at TPC Kuala Lumpur despite with what he said was a wayward driver early in the week.

“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” Leishman said. “Sorted that out and this is the result.”

Leishman’s lone stumble for the day was a bogey coming at the par-4 13th hole. But with the putter running hot and a near flawless performance when he missed a green, Leishman finished with two birdies at the 16th and 18th holes to run out an emphatic winner and raise the abstract looking CIMB Classic trophy.

“Generally, I would have a few beers out of the trophy,” Leishman said.

“That’s going to be difficult with this one, but we’ll sit that 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.”

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