ZANOTTI ZIPS IN TO CLAIM MALAYSIAN TITLE

Paraguayan Fabrizio Zanotti made an eagle on the final hole to win his second European Tour title at the Maybank Championship.

Zanotti began the day six shots off the lead at Saujana Golf and Country Club, but a birdie on the 71st hole saw him hit the top of the leaderboard for the first time all week. Even better was to follow on the par-five 18^th, as he got on the green in two and rolled in a 15-foot putt to sign for a 63 and a 19 under par total.

American David Lipsky had been the leader over much of the back nine, and he too birdied the 17^th, but could not repeat the trick on the last to set up a play-off. A par saw Lipsky finish at 18 under, a shot ahead of ABernd Wiesberger and two clear of Alexander Levy. Masters champion Danny Willett entered the final day with a three-shot lead, but a closing 73 saw him slip to 15 under alongside China’s Li Haotong.

Zanotti arrived in Malaysia off the back of three missed cuts on the Desert Swing, but made a stunning return to form to claim his first win since he triumphed in a play-off at the 2014 BMW International Open.

“I think it was probably the best round of my career, so I’m very happy,” he said. “It was a really good day, a really good week and I’m really happy. I think it was at the 15th where I thought I might be able to win, when I made birdie there. I thought, maybe I’ll have a chance if I make two more birdies, but I made a birdie and an eagle, so it was great.”

He added: “It feels really good to be a winner again. I’ve been working a lot and I was not in my best run of form, missing three cuts in a row, but that’s in the past and today I’m a winner again and it feels great.”