Lam birdies three of last four holes to win Volvo Masters

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Lam Chih-bing of Singapore broke out of a five-way tie for the lead in the final round to claim the Volvo Masters trophy for himself.

BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) -- Singapore's Lam Chih-bing won the Asian Tour's season-ending Volvo Masters on Sunday, firing a five-under 67 in the final round to win by two strokes.

Lam, one of five co-leaders heading into the final round, finished with three birdies in the final four holes to pull clear and complete a four-round total of 14-under 274, defeating Thailand's Chapchai Nirat (67), with Australian Terry Pilkadaris (66) a further stroke back in third in the $750,000 event.

"I have won a bunch of small ones before, but this is just unbelievable," the 31-year old Lam said. "It was such a jam-packed leaderboard, and I'm just so glad I went out and finished the job.

"To win on the Asian Tour has been a dream of mine. I always thought I could win one and to do it is unbelievable."

Lam came under pressure from Pilkadaris, but some fine approach shots over the closing holes enabled him to take the $135,000 winner's check.

"At the first tee, I knew I needed to shoot a solid round," Lam said. "I knew some guys would play, well and I'm glad I'm the one who went out and shot the score.

"I knew I needed to make some birdies coming in. To be able to pull them off at that juncture was very satisfying.

"Last week, I felt really good and texted my coach and told him that I felt I was ready to win. It just felt like it was my week."

Chapchai's challenge was ultimately undone by a poor start to the round, with a bogey and double-bogey in the opening three holes, and later complained of a shoulder injury.

"I went to the physiotherapist before the round today, but it was still painful during the front nine," Chapchai said. "I felt I had to give it a go on the back nine. I pushed again -- my shoulder was still painful -- and finished quite well."

Pilkadaris chipped in on the final hole to take solo third and was left to rue some missed opportunities early in his round.

"My approach today was just to get as many birdies as I could," Pilkadaris said. "I played well in the front nine but missed a couple of 10 footers for birdie on holes two and seven. I missed a 10-footer on 10. Steam was pouring out my ears at that stage. I thought I had given myself chances but had not taken them."

His Australian compatriots Andrew Dodt (65) and David Gleeson (71) shared fourth place a shot back, with another Australian Adam Blyth and Taiwan's Lin Wen-tang one more stroke behind.

Lin's finish should be enough to move him from 51st in Official World Golf Ranking pre-tournament to inside the top 50 at year's end, earning a position in next year's Masters.