America's Kang ends win drought at Malaysian Open

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Anthony Kang ended an eight-year win drought with his Malaysian Open victory.

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) -- American Anthony Kang ended his eight-year title drought by getting a birdie on the final hole to win the Malaysian Open by one stroke Sunday.

Kang's 5-under 67 in the final round gave him a four-round total of 17-under 271, putting him a shot in front of four players: England's David Horsey (64) and Miles Tunnicliff (68), Thailand's Prayad Marksaeng (68) and India's Jyoti Randhawa (66) in the jointly sanctioned Asian Tour and European Tour event.

Victory in the $2 million event ended a long wait for 36-year-old, Korean-born Kang, who has lived in the U.S. since age 10. His previous wins were at the 1999 Philippine Open and the 2001 Myanmar Open.

"I actually dreamt last night that I won the tournament, but I have those sort of dreams quite often," said Kang. "It feels great to have beaten a strong field here. It hasn't quite sunk in yet, but it is an amazing feeling.

"I've been playing here since 1996 or 1997, and to finally win this event, I'm speechless. Malaysia feels like where I started playing my golf and to win this tournament is great."

Kang moved to the top of the leaderboard with birdies at the sixth and eighth holes of the Saujana Golf and Country Club course, but fell back into a shared lead when he bogeyed the 15th after finding the water.

On the par-5 18th, Kang reached the green in two and safely two-putted to claim the title, with playing partner Marksaeng missing his long birdie attempt.

"In the last three rounds, I only made one bogey," Kang said. "After I hit into the water on 15, I told myself let's try to finish this off with a bogey and not to put my head down.

"That last putt from a foot and a half, I knew it was pretty simple. It's nice to have a putt like that to win."

Marksaeng was in a winning position but three-putted the 16th for bogey and cost himself a chance at the final hole with a wayward drive.

"I knew I needed to make birdie but hooked my drive, and the ball ended up in the bunker, and all I could do was wedge it out," he said. "I didn't have a realistic chance from nearly 30 feet for the birdie putt."

Randhawa had a 50-foot attempt at eagle on the last but had to settle for second.

Horsey was the clubhouse leader after his impressive last round in which he shot 29 on the back nine.

Overnight leader Adam Blyth of Australia had a 73 in the final round to finish outright 10th, while Malaysia's wait for its first home winner continues after Danny Chia (71) ended tied for 11th.

American Anthony Kim, the world's No. 11 player, effectively dropped out of contention with a 78 on the opening day but finished well with a 67 to be 10 shots behind Kang.