Justin Thomas has been to Malaysia only twice and it’s safe to say he loves the place.
Thomas closed with a bogey-free 8-under par 64 at TPC Kuala Lumpur to win the CIMB Classic for the second straight year by three strokes over Hideki Matsuyama of Japan in Kuala Lumpur.
“I think the main thing right now is that I just played really well this week,” said Thomas, whose only two PGA Tour victories have come in this tournament. “I feel like I would have played a lot of courses really well but this place obviously suits my eye, and I think the fact that there’s a lot of wedges and scoring clubs bodes well for me.
“It was obviously a fun day. It couldn’t have happened if it wasn’t for my finish (five straight birdies) yesterday. That was huge for me and put me in a good position to have a chance to win today. I definitely owe a lot of it to that.”
The 23-year-old Thomas finished with a score of 23-under 265, three shots off the tournament record he set last year, and became the first player on the circuit to repeat as champion since Matt Every won the Arnold Palmer Invitational in 2014 and 2015.
Matsuyama had a bogey-free 66 to finish in solo second, while 54-hole leader Anirban Lahiri of India could manage only a 72 that included a quadruple-bogey 9 on the third hole and was four back in a tie for third with Derek Fathauer, whose 67 included an eagle on the fifth hole.
Marc Leishman of Australia birdied five of the nine holes on the front nine and was six strokes behind in solo fifth, while Keegan Bradley was another shot down in sixth after a 68.
Scott Hend of Australia collected five birdies on the back nine of a 67 to finish eight back in a tie for seventh with Tyone Van Aswagen of South Africa, who totaled 68.
James Hahn of Alameda and Cal was nine behind in solo ninth following a 72, while Adam Scott of Australia shot 70 and was another stroke back in a tie for 10th with Siwoo Kim (66) of South Korea, Aaron Baddeley (68) of Australia, Scott Piercy (72), Ryo Ishikawa (70) of Japan, Rafa Cabrera Bello (70) of Spain and Russell Knox (74) of Scotland.
