Kapur finishes tied 16th at CIMB

Kuala Lumpur: Shiv Kapur failed to nail any of the birdie putts that came his way but the Indian golfer still managed to turn in an even par 72 that saw him finish tied 16th place at the $7 million CIMB Classic, an event jointly sanctioned by Asian and PGA Tours, here on Sunday.

Kapur had birdies on third and 17th and dropped bogeys on sixth and 15th and finished with a total of six-under 282 to stay at overnight 16th place.

Other Indians in fray, Gaganjeet Bhullar (73) and Anirban Lahiri (68) finished tied 33rd and 35th. Lahiri made a fine move with five birdies and an eagle but he also dropped three bogeys. Bhullar dropped a double bogey on 17th after just one birdie on 13th.

At the top, the tussle between Americans - Ryan Moore and Gary Woodland stayed unresolved and the duo will return on Monday morning for a sudden-death play-off to determine the champion. Both were tied on 14-under 274 in a weather-hit final round.

Kapur played consistently over four rounds to take home a cheque of USD 112,000, that should see him rise into top-10 from his current 14th place.

Kapur reckons that he is coming closer to winning his second Asian Tour title since 2005 after staying patient despite making some mental errors this week.

"I can be patient when I need to be and I need to be patient. I think in the past, I've gotten impatient and sort of let things slip when things are not going well. This week I fought back hard, four-over after my first five holes and six-under for the week. That's one big lesson that I learn," said Kapur.

"I wanted to get to double digits under-par but conditions were tough. I just didn't get the putts to fall. I think if you hole a couple of putts early in the round it is a different story. You get to minus two or three under and then you're looking to press on.

"For me I made a lot of pars today, didn't really make too many mistakes and just didn't hole enough birdie putts to really threaten, but I think I played steady the whole week. I take a lot of positives out of the week, a respectable finish," he said.

The 31-year-old Indian will now aim to win the Hero Indian Open in a fortnight when it is played at his home course at the Delhi Golf Club.

"Obviously I would have liked to have been in the top-10 or higher and played my way into the next PGA TOUR event.

"But I think I take a lot of good things from the week, and going into the Indian Open now, I feel like I'm hitting form with last week and this week, and I'm pretty happy with where my game is,"

Moore and Woodland, both two-time PGA Tour winners, posted a 70 and 69 respectively on a drama-filled day which included two weather suspensions due to lightning storms at the Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club's West course.

Thai rising star Kiradech Aphibarnrat finished joint third with American Chris Stroud, one back of the leaders. Moore, who finished tied fifth in the inaugural CIMB Classic in 2010, had energy-sapping day with four birdies against two bogeys.

The American, ranked 45th in the world, has been in contention since opening a superb 63.

"Honestly it is a little bit of a blur right now because today was so crazy with the weather on and off, and I think we're both pretty happy we just got done at this point. To come back tomorrow for a play-off is not the worst thing ever.

I'm just happy to be in it," said Moore.

The 29-year-old Woodland, who was one shot back at the start of the final day, narrowly missed a 10-foot birdie putt on 18 for the outright victory.

"I knew I needed to make it to win. I played it just outside right and thought I hit a good putt. I thought I made it when I looked up, and it just broke too much at the end. It was a tough day and obviously to come down to the last putt, obviously I'd like to have made it but I wouldn't do anything differently," said Woodland.

Current Asian Tour number one Kiradech took pride with his wonderful performance which virtually placed one hand on the Asian Tour's Order of Merit. Australian Aaron Baddley closed with a 66 to take fifth place while world number three Phil Mickelson of the United States shot a 74 to finish tied 19th on 283.