KUALA LUMPUR: Pat Perez completed a stunning victory at the US$7 million CIMB Classic by closing with a three-under-par 69 to win by four shots on Sunday.

The American made three straight birdies from the second hole before a bogey on six was offset by another birdie on eight. He parred the next 10 holes to secure his first win in Asia and third on the PGA Tour with a winning total of 24-under-par 264.

Keegan Bradley of the United States rallied with a flawless 67 to finish second – his best result at the CIMB Classic while Xander Schauffele (72) and Sung Kang (71) of Korea settled for a share of third place at the TPC Kuala Lumpur.

Former Asian Tour member Cameron Smith of Australia, the opening day leader, closed with three birdies to finish in a share of fifth place alongside world number three Hideki Matsuyama (71) of Japan.

Anirban Lahiri of India, the 2015 Asian Tour number one, posted a 71 to end his campaign in tied 10th place with Rafa Cabrera Bello and Peter Uihlein of the United States.

The 41-year-old Perez was the delighted to win the CIMB Classic, the first event he played in last year after being sidelined for 11 months after going through a shoulder surgery.

Since the surgery, his career has been on the upswing as he won his second PGA Tour title in 2016 before dominating the CIMB Classic where he held the lead since the second round before pocketing a winner’s pay cheque of US$1.26 million.

“This was the place where they gave me a spot and I was so excited to come back after, you know, being out for so long. He (PGA Tour vice-president) Todd Rhinehart gave me a spot and I was so nervous for last year to see what was going to happen. And I can’t really explain it. You know, everything is just going unbelievable. It’s been just a lot of work and a lot of dedication and it’s all come together,” said Perez, moves to second in the FedExCup behind Safeway Open winner Brendan Steele, who finished in tied-13th this week.

He dropped only three bogeys all week while accumulating a total of 27 birdies, thanks to his brilliant putting touch on the slick TPC Kuala Lumpur putting greens.

“It’s actually not even the course that suits my eye, it’s the greens. Mayakoba, where I won, has the same greens and I putted better than anybody there, too. So I don’t know what it is. It’s the grass. I don’t really see a lot of shots. I didn’t even hit that many good shots. I putted unbelievable really. I didn’t hit it that great, I just made a whole lot of putts and that saved me because if I didn’t putt well I probably would have finished 40th,” added Perez.

Leading final results (Par-72)
264 – Pat Perez (USA) 66-65-64-69
268 – Keegan Bradley (USA) 65-71-65-67
271 – Xander Schauffele (USA) 65-67-67-72, Kang Sung-hoon (KOR) 67-68-65-71
272 – Cameron Smith (AUS) 64-71-73-64, Hideki Matusyama (JPN) 70-68-63-71
274 – Paul Casey (ENG) 77-63-69-65, Danny Lee (NZL) 73-65-68-68, Lucas Glover (USA) 71-67-68-68
275 – Rafa Cabrera Bello (ESP) 67-70-69-69, Peter Uihlein (USA) 73-68-65-69, Anirban Lahiri (IND) 67-73-64-71