Nanshan, China, Oct. 14 - Home favourite Liang Wenchong drained a 12 foot birdie putt on the fifth hole of a sudden-death playoff to pip Korean Y.E. Yang at OneAsia's U.S. $1 million Nanshan China Masters on Sunday.
Yang fired a two-under-par fourth-round 69 to overnight leader Liang's 73 to leave both at eight under for the tournament, and they then matched each other shot-for-shot as they played the 18th five times in a bid to settle the match.
Neither player has won on any tour since claiming two OneAsia titles apiece in 2010, and for a while it looked as if Australian Aaron Townsend (72) might pip them both in a topsy-turvy final round.
But Townsend stuttered down the finish, and two bogeys in the last five holes saw him miss the playoff by a stroke.
"I'm very happy," Liang said after sinking his putt in fading light at the Nanshan International Golf Club's Danling course.
"I have never been involved in something like this. Thanks to Y.E. for making it so exciting."
Yang, who won the 2009 PGA Championship to become the first Major winner from Asia, said he was disappointed his final round charge didn't succeed, but added Liang was a worthy winner.
"I am a bit disappointed," he said. "It was very tiring to have to play five more holes, but Liang played good golf."
Louis Oosthuizen, the 2010 Open Champion, was left to rue what might have been after a final-round 67 left him three shots off the pace in joint fourth place with Wang Jeun-hun of Korea and American Garrett Sapp, who both closed with 69s.
"There were a lot of birdie opportunities, but I just didn't make as many as I could have," the South African said. "It is a bit frustrating when I think of the missed opportunities on the first two days."
Meanwhile Indonesia's number one golfer Rory Hie scored a third successive round of 69 for a total score of 281 that put him in a share of 8th on the leaderboard. With this result he's now 10th on OneAsia's 2012 Order of Merit with earnings of $87,500.94.
Liang, who earned around U.S. $180,000 for his fourth victory on OneAsia, held or shared the lead from round one but started with a bogey and then doubled the seventh after hitting his tee-shot into a hazard, before clawing a shot back on the eighth.
Yang had two birdies in the first nine, and Townsend a birdie and a bogey, to see all three players in the final group make the turn at eight under.
"When I lost the lead I actually felt more relaxed," said Liang, who three-putted the 10th to fall a shot behind. "I played the back nine better -- especially the last few holes."
Townsend birdied the 11th to take the lead for the first time but gave one back on the 13th after finding a fairway bunker with his tee shot.
Both Yang and Liang birdied the 15th, but the turning point came a hole later when Townsend and Yang made bogeys and Liang scrambled a par from 15 feet to get back into the tournament.
Yang and Liang found the fairway with their drives on each of the five playoff holes, and it became a putting contest as they also made the green in regulation.
With the light fading, Liang drained his putt for a birdie to end his winless streak.
"Y.E. Yang is a good player, and I played the first two rounds with Louis, so I learned a lot by playing both of them," said Liang, who has drifted down the world rankings since finishing joint eighth at the 2010 PGA Championships in a year he won the OneAsia Order of Merit.
Scores after round 4 of the 2012 Nanshan China Masters being played at the par 71, 6,539-metre (7,151-yard) Nanshan International Golf Club's Danling course (a- denotes amateur):
276 - LIANG Wenchong (CHN) 68-67-68-73, Y. E. YANG (KOR) 71-68-68-69.
277 - Aaron TOWNSEND (AUS) 69-67-69-72.
279 - Louis OOSTHUIZEN (RSA) 71-72-69-67, WANG Jeung-hun (KOR) 69-71-70-69, Garrett SAPP (USA) 73-70-67-69.
280 - Michael HENDRY (NZL) 72-73-67-68.
281 - Steven JONES (AUS) 68-74-72-67, Rory HIE (INA) 74-69-69-69, Scott LAYCOCK (AUS) 70-71-70-70.
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