Atwal triumphs in Malaysia

India’s Arjun Atwal held off the challenge of European number one Retief Goosen to claim his second European tour title in the Malaysian Open.

Ireland’s Padraig Harrington was unable to mount a last-day charge and closed with a 73 for a 12-under total on his return to action after a nine-week break, one shot ahead of Ryder Cup team-mate Paul McGinley.

Atwal carded a final-round 66 for a 24-under-par total of 260 at the Mines Resort in Kuala Lumpur, four shots ahead of Goosen and unknown Australian Brad Kennedy.

The 29-year-old, who became the first Indian golfer to win on tour when he took the Singapore Masters title 12 months ago, finished in style by chipping in on the last to pick up the winner’s cheque for £113,000 (€168,000).

Scotland’s Dean Robertson also chipped in on the last to complete a final-round 66 and a welcome return to top form after missing almost all of last season having been diagnosed as suffering from clinical depression.

Atwal had earlier completed a 67 in the delayed third round to take a two-shot lead into the final 18 holes, Goosen his nearest challenger after birdies at the last two holes.

The leading duo carded three birdies each on the front nine before Goosen closed the gap to one for the third time with a birdie on the 10th.

The 13th hole proved to be decisive and unlucky for some, however, Goosen carving his tee shot way right into the water and failing to save par despite a superb third shot to 10 feet.

That gave Atwal a two-shot cushion – and he took full advantage of the world number five’s blunder on the next with a birdie from 10 feet to effectively seal victory and move into the top five on the Order of Merit.

Final leaderboard:

1 ATWAL, Arjun IND 18 -24 62 65 67 66

T2 GOOSEN, Retief RSA 18 -20 66 64 66 68

T2 KENNEDY, Brad AUS 18 -20 68 66 66 64

4 ROBERTSON, Dean SCO 18 -18 66 70 64 66

5 SRIROT, Thammanoon THA 18 -17 63 69 70 65

6 CHOPRA, Daniel SWE 18 -16 65 68 66 69

7 OH, Ted KOR 18 -15 64 67 70 68

8 SJÖLAND, Patrik SWE 18 -14 68 66 70 66

T9 DYSON, Simon ENG 18 -13 65 70 68 68

T9 KHAN, Simon ENG 18 -13 69 67 67 68

T9 LIANG, Wen-Chong CHN 18 -13 68 66 66 71

T9 ROSALES, Gerald PHI 18 -13 72 68 66 65

T9 YEH, Wei-Tze TPE 18 -13 65 69 72 65

T14 HARRINGTON, Padraig IRE 18 -12 66 66 67 73

T14 PLAPHOL, Chawalit THA 18 -12 70 71 64 67

T14 RUANGKIT, Boonchu THA 18 -12 69 70 69 64

T17 CANONICA, Emanuele ITA 18 -11 67 66 68 72

T17 MARITZ, Martin RSA 18 -11 70 69 69 65

T17 MARSHALL, Andrew ENG 18 -11 71 66 66 70

T17 MCGINLEY, Paul IRE 18 -11 67 69 70 67