Minus a bogey at the 18th, Nick Watney posted an otherwise flawless final-round 61 Sunday at the CIMB Classic to capture his second victory in three months.
Watney뭩 10-under 61 at the Mines Resort and Golf Club in Malaysia set a new course record and bested his previous career low (62) which he shot at last year뭩 AT&T National at Aronimink. Watney came from four shots back at the start of the day and topped a star-studded field that included Tiger Woods, Bo Van Pelt and Ben Crane.
밒 didn뭪 really look up until about 13 and saw I was in pretty good shape,?Watney said. 밒 hated to bogey the last but it worked out.?/P>
The CIMB Classic is considered an unofficial PGA Tour event, but marks the sixth win of Watney's career, where he collected a $1,098,000 paycheck. His last victory came at the first FedEx Cup playoff event ?The Barclays ?at Bethpage Black in August.
Woods began the final round five off the pace and carded a bogey-free 8-under 63 on Day 4, but settled at 19-under 265 and in a tie for fourth.
''I needed to get to 20-plus,'' said Woods, who signaled his intentions with a massive drive on the 358-yard first hole. ''That was the goal score at the end of the day. Looks like Nick went ahead and put it to us.''
Defending champion Van Pelt and Robert Garrigus co-led at the 54-hole mark, but both posted final-round 66s and fell short, tied for second, one shot back of Watney.
Crane, the 2010 CIMB champion, played alongside Woods and started the day with three birdies in a row before eventually posting a 3-under 68 and finishing T-14.
Watney's win marks the third year in a row an American has won the CIMB Classic