NANSHAN, China, October 13 - South African Charl Schwartzel dug deep for a four-under-par 68 on Sunday to claim the Nanshan China Masters title by a stroke from fellow Major winner Darren Clarke (72) and defending champion Liang Wenchong (72).
Two behind Clarke and Liang overnight, Schwartzel birdied the 15th and 16th to draw level with the Northern Irishman, who saw the OneAsia title slip from his grasp with a loose tee shot on the par-three 17th that lead to a bogey.
Schwartzel finished nine under for the U.S. $1 million tournament around the 6,784-metre (7,419-yard) Montgomerie Course at Nanshan International Golf Club despite complaining that he hadn't struck the ball well all week.
"It's always very satisfying to win," said the 2011 U.S. Masters champion. "I've played a lot of golf tournaments and done a lot of traveling in the past few months and it felt like I've been playing really good golf with no results, so it's nice to have something finally go your way."
Clarke, seeking his first victory since claiming the Open Championship at Royal St George's in 2011, seemed to be cruising until missing a three footer on the 13th.
"I'm obviously disappointed with the day -- it was another one of those days on the greens again where I couldn't buy a putt from anywhere," he said.
He still had a share of the lead on the 17th until finding the thick fringe of a greenside bunker.
"It was horrible. It couldn't have got any worse," he said, after hacking it out and missing the par putt. "Still, that's golf and they've got a very good winner here, a fantastic winner, and that's the way it is. It's like that sometimes, unfortunately."
Both Liang and Clarke had the chance to force a playoff on the 18th, but the hole had yielded only one birdie all day and the pair saw their attempts come up short.
"I knew I had to a make a birdie on the last but it was a delicate putt," said Liang, a four-time winner on OneAsia who ended a two-year title drought with victory here last year.
"Still, the Nanshan China Masters is my Major -- one of the most important wins in my career -- and a good platform for younger China players."
Australian Rhein Gibson, a graduate of OneAsia's Q-School in California earlier this year, shot an excellent 69 to share fourth place at six under with countryman Scott Strange (72), New Zealander Mark Brown (70), Kwon Sung-yeol (72) of Korea and Indonesia's Rory Hie (70).
Fellow Indonesian George Gandranata (80) had a disastrous round with a string of bogeys and 2 double bogeys on the second and the last hole, which cost him to drop out of the top 50.
The round of the day belonged to Australian Ryan Haller who sank a monster 60-foot putt for an eagle on the par-five 15th en-route to a 67 and a share of ninth.
Schwartzel said he drew on memories of his 2011 Major victory during the final round.
"I won the U.S. Masters from four shots behind and I won by two shots," he said.
"I never thought I was out of it, for any second. It's a matter of staying in there, hitting good golf shots and controlling your own destiny."
He had some words of comfort for International Sports Management stablemate Clarke.
"Darren has been one of my idols. I've always looked up to him and he has been fantastic to me. I regard him as one of the best wind players when conditions are bad, and he has taught me so many of those shots. I hope it didn't work against him this week.
"Darren also hasn't played very well this year, so it's nice to see him compete this week. It's never nice to lose -- I know the feeling -- but I know he can take a lot of positives from his performance this week."
OneAsia heads to Seoul next week for the Kolon Korea Open from October 17 -20, with world number four Rory McIlroy the star attraction.
Scores after the final round of the Nanshan China Masters being played at the 6,784-metre par-72 Montgomerie Course at the Nanshan International Golf Club:
279 - Charl SCHWARTZEL (RSA) 71-72-68-68
280 - LIANG Wen-chong (CHN) 74-64-70-72, Darren CLARKE (NIR) 72-68-68-72
282 - Rhein GIBSON (AUS) 74-69-70-69, Rory HIE (INA) 75-65-72-70, Mark BROWN (NZL) 71-72-69-70, Scott STRANGE (AUS) 72-69-69-72, KWON Sung-yeol (KOR) 73-70-67-72
Selected:
298 - George GANDRANATA (INA) 75-71-72-80
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