Pat Perez is better than ever at the age of 41.
Perez, from San Diego, closed with a 3-under-par 69 to claim his third PGA Tour victory and second in the last two seasons by four strokes over Keegan Bradley in the CIMB Classic on the West Course at TPC Kuala Lumpur in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
“Unreal,” said Perez, who returned from back surgery a year ago to win the OHL Classic at Mayakoba. “I think I’m the last guy that expected to win this week, to be honest with you. I did not think I was going to win this week.
“I really can’t explain it, it’s been an amazing 12 months. I can’t explain it, but I hope it continues. … I’ll be here every year. Every year of the tournament, I’ll be here. It’s been very good to me. The tournament’s been fantastic.”
Perez, who took a four-stroke lead after starting with 66-65-64, birdied three straight holes through No. 4 in the final round and later finished with 10 consecutive pars to post a score of 24-under 264.
Bradley, who captured the 2011 PGA Championship at the Olympic Club in San Francisco, eagled the fifth hole in a bogey-free 67, while Xander Schauffele, also of San Diego, shot 72 and was seven shots back in a tie for third with Sung Kang of South Korea, who finished with a 71.
Cameron Smith of Australia birdied the last three holes for a 64 and was eight behind in a tie for fifth with third-ranked Hideki Matsuyama of Japan, who birdied the last hole for a 71 one day after shooting 63.
Paul Casey of England birdied three of the first four holes and three of the last four to post a 65 and was 10 down in a tie for seventh with Lucas Glover and Danny Lee of New Zealand, who both wound up at 68.
Rafa Cabrera Bello of Spain and Peter Uihlein both shot 68 and were one more shot down in a tie for 10th with Anirban Lahiri of India, who came in at 71.
Fourth-ranked Justin Thomas closed with a 67 to tie for 17th.
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