Vijay Singh captured the Carlsberg Malaysian Open and his eighth European Tour title with a magnificent birdie three on the third extra hole of a dramatic sudden death play-off to defeat Padraig Harrington at Saujana Golf and Country Club.
The reigning Masters Champion looked to have handed the title to Harrington, last year’s runner-up, when he drove out of bounds on the 17th on his way to a double bogey six. But the Fijian birdied the final hole in regulation to force extra holes with the pair tied on 14 under par 274.
Twice the pair visited the 18th, before Singh finally ended the dual with birdie three on the 17th hole, his gamble of driving the green on the 360 yard dog leg paying off. For the first time this week Harrington also pulled out the driver on the 17th but came up just short in the rough. He bravely chipped to six feet but his putt to continue the contest just fell away from the hole and Singh was crowned champion for the second time following his victory in 1992.
“I thought I had given it away with the double bogey on the 17th,” said Singh, who cut his teeth in Asia and won his first international title in Malaysia in 1984. “But then made birdie. I’m glad the way things turned out. Padraig played very well all round and came back strongly at the end.
“The crowd was behind me which was nice. I had a lot of friends out there and a lot of friends I had met through the years. Now I’m looking forward to playing in Singapore.”
Singh had earlier seemed in total control when he broke out of a four-way tie for the lead with birdies on the 12th, 13th and 16th to open a two-shot lead. But when Singh drove out of bounds and Harrington picked up birdies on 15th an 16th, the Irishman was two clear with two to play.
More drama followed on the 17th as Harrington was too aggressive with his pitch, flew the green and was unable to save his par. Ahead of him Singh played a great approach to the last, pitching within a foot of the hole and leaving himself with a six foot putt which he duly converted to set up the dramatic finale.
Harrington still had a chance to win but could not convert his 15 foot birdie putt. Twice more the pair returned to the 18th, matching each other with par fives the first time when Singh’s 12 footer lipped out and the both making birdie fours the second time around before heading back to the 17th where Singh calmly two putted for victory.
Harrington said: “I’m delighted to have finished second considering I am working on my swing. I made a good run with birdies at the 13th, 15th and 16th but then got a bit aggressive on the 17th and 18 is a tough pin.
“If I had been offered second place coming out here I would have been thrilled, not knowing what my form was. But today I had a bad day on the greens.”
American Ahmad Dan Bateman and Korean Charlie Wi lead the Asian PGA Tour challenge finishing tied third two shots adrift on 12 under par.
