Crane holds nerve to claim victory in Kuala Lumpur

A birdie at the last hole saw Ben Crane hold off Brian Davies to win the CIMB Asia Pacific Classic by one stroke.

Crane held his nerve to hole an eight-foot putt on the 18th at Mines Resort and Golf Club in Kuala Lumpur and sign for a two-under 69 to finish 18 under par and edge out Davies.

The 36-year-old had reached the turn holding a three-shot lead but three consecutive bogeys from the 12th threatened to derail his title bid. However, an eagle at the 15th got the American back on track.

“This has been a really special week, from the time we arrived till now. I had a great opportunity with that putt (on the 18th) which I’ll always remember,” he said.

“I was so nervous and I was just praying. I just wanted to hit a good putt and to see it go into the hole, it felt so good.

“I just regrouped (after the 12th) and didn’t get ahead of myself. I knew I was still in the tournament. I hit an unbelievable shot on 15 with my driver and that kind of turned things around. It was an exciting turnaround. That was an unbelievable finish.”

Davies almost forced a play-off as the Englishman finished birdie, eagle, birdie to card a 66 and end the tournament 17 under par.

“I played good all week and kept myself in the hunt,” he said. “I finished strong but it just quite wasn’t good enough. I am quite disappointed. I missed a short putt on the par four 15th (for bogey) which was a big error there.

“But I managed to dig deep for birdie, eagle, birdie finish and thought it might be good enough to get me into a play-off. But congratulations to Ben. Hopefully I’ll get my turn next time.”

A triple-bogey on the ninth cost Luke Donald as the Englishman ended tied third with Scotland’s Martin Laird (66) two shots back on 16-under.

“I gave it my all out there,” said Donald, who finished with a 67. I pulled my tee shot slightly on nine as I was being aggressive with my three wood and I couldn’t find my ball among the trees. I made seven there which was disappointing and my bogey on 15 wasn’t very good either.”