Forsyth gains first European Tour win

Scotland's Alastair Forsyth captured his first European Tour title with a dramatic play-off victory in the Carlsberg Malaysian Open.

Forsyth birdied two of the last three holes in regulation play to force his way into the play-off with Australian Stephen Leaney after trailing by three shots at one stage on the back nine.

And the 26-year-old, who lost his card by one place on the Order of Merit last year and was playing this week on a sponsor's invite, then holed from 15 feet for a birdie at the second extra hole to claim the £116,000 first prize and valuable two-year exemption.

Germany's Alex Cejka bogeyed the 72nd hole to miss out on the play-off and had to settle for outright third, with Spanish pair Miguel Angel Martin and Ignacio Garrido sharing fourth.

Forsyth began the day with a two-shot lead, but got off to a poor start when he three-putted the first from 15 feet, although with Garrido also dropping a shot, his two-stroke lead was still intact.

Birdies at the third, fourth and sixth then saw him extend the gap to three shots before it was suddenly back down to one, the Scot dropping a shot at the seventh as Martin eagled the sixth and birdied the eighth in the group behind.

A superb approach to within inches of the hole on the ninth set up another birdie and Forsyth was two ahead of Martin at the turn.

A bogey on the 10th while Leaney birdied saw Forsyth's lead cut to one and the Scot then duffed a chip on the 11th to drop another shot and was now tied with Leaney on 16-under.

It looked like being between those two until Cejka birdied the 15th and 16th to briefly make it a three-way tie, the German then taking the lead with a birdie on the 17th, moving one ahead of Leaney and two in front of Forsyth who had bogeyed the 14th.

Leaney then birdied the 15th to draw level with Cejka, who then left his par putt on the 18th millimetres short to drop back to 16-under.

The Australian did not have long to enjoy his lead, however, as Forsyth birdied the 16th and 17th to get back on level terms, both players then missing good chances to win it on the 72nd hole.

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