With a Sunday 65, Marc Leishman cruises to a five-stroke win at the CIMB Classic

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Much like his round on Saturday, Marc Leishman took charge of the CIMB Classic early on Sunday, making four birdies on his first five holes. A birdie at the ninth gave him a five-under 31, and this time he backed it up on his final nine, carding a two-under 34 to finish with a seven-under 65, good enough for a five-stroke victory.

“I got off to a really strong start and then kept it going,” said Leishman, who now has four PGA Tour victories. “Yesterday I struggled a little bit on the back nine, there were some tough holes out there, so I was really wary of that and knew that I had to keep my head down and keep playing really hard. So it was very nice to get a bit of a lead to come up the last and enjoy it like I did, and to birdie it, that’s something I’ll remember forever.”

The 34-year-old Aussie looked like he was going to explode two seasons ago, winning twice at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and the BMW Championship. But he was unable to find a win last season, something he was happy to rectify at TPC Kuala Lumpur.

“It’s huge. After having two wins last season – sorry, two seasons ago, not winning this year so far, I was pretty determined to change that and was able to do it this week. So hopefully I can continue my good form in Korea next week and the World Cup and the Australian PGA at the end of the year.”

Leishman now heads to the CJ Cup @ Nine Bridges, an event he nearly won last season in a playoff in the tournament’s first year. He wound up losing on the second sudden-death hole to Justin Thomas, the only player hotter than Leishman this time last year.

Emiliano Grillo, Bronson Burgoon and Chesson Hadley finished in a tie for second at 21-under 267. Thomas was among a group that tied for fifth at 20-under 268.

Up-to-the-minute leaderboard for the 2018 CIMB Classic, TPC Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Oct. 11-14, 2018