Ryan Moore wins the CIMB Classic

Post by Sports Writer Derek Clements

Ryan Moore successfully defended his CIMB Classic title, shooting a 5-under 67  for a three-stroke win. For the second straight year, he beat fellow American Gary Woodland.

Moore finished on 17-under 271 at Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club to become the first player to defend a title on the PGA Tour since Tiger Woods at the Arnold Palmer Invitation in 2012 and 2013. To be honest, Moore looked at home here from the first round.

Sergio Garcia (69), the highest-ranked player in the field, and Kevin Na (70) shared a three-way tie for second with Woodland (67).

Moore had eight birdies against three bogeys in the final round, and earned his fourth PGA Tour title with superb approach shots at the 14th and 17th holes for birdies, and some  superb putting on the back nine.

"It was incredible to finish the way I did coming down those last few holes," Moore said. "I like to tell myself all the time that `I am a closer. Let's just do what we can, hit good shots and let's close this thing' and I was able to do that here."

Woodland, who lost to Moore in a playoff at this tournament 12 months earlier, threatened to reverse that result by firing six birdies without a bogey over the first 15 holes to move within a shot.

He had a birdie putt at 16 for a share of the lead which lipped out, and at 18 he had the chance for another birdie, but missed it, and the short par putt that followed.

"The par fives cost me all week," Woodland said. "I played beautifully outside the par fives. Hopefully I can ride this momentum and play well next week."

Na birdied three of the first four holes to take a two-stroke lead and still led by a stroke after 12 before things began to come undone.
A bogey on the 13th dropped him back into a share of the lead; at 14, a downhill eagle opportunity slid past the hole and he missed the return, and at 15 he missed a birdie putt, leaving him two shots behind.

With Moore taking a bogey at 16, Na looked like getting back a share of the lead with a birdie putt from two feet, but he missed it.

Things went from bad to worse at 17 when he put his tee shot into the top of a palm tree. With the ball irretrievable, he took a penalty and returned to the tee, finishing with a double-bogey six that ended his challenge.

"It's my fault hitting a bad putt and it's hard to recover from that late in the day," Na said. "I never got it together before I hit the next shot and you saw what happened. It's disappointing when you know you had the lead and it's yours, but Ryan did step it up in the end."

Another palm tree proved Garcia's undoing on the par-5 10th hole, also having to take a penalty and return to the tee and the double-bogey seven dropped him from two shots off the lead to four.

"After nine, I thought I had a chance because I finally got some things going after two or three lip-outs early in the round for birdie," Garcia said. "But unfortunately that double bogey kind of stopped me."

South Korea's Bae Sang-moon (69) was tied for fifth with 21-year-old Australian Cameron Smith (68), who vaulted up to fourth on the Order of Merit in the Asian Tour, which co-sanctioned this event.

Last season's FedExCup winner, Billy Horschel, finished at 4-under in joint 37th.

Image credit - CIMB Classic Facebook Page

Derek Clements is a sports journalist with a particular passion for golf with over 12 years of experience covering golf and other sports including Chief Sub-Editor on the sports desk of The Sunday Times. To contact Derek email direct via [email protected]