Justin Thomas bags back-to-back CIMB Classic wins as Anirban Lahiri crumbles
The American cards a flawless eight-under-par 64 final round at TPC Kuala Lumpur to win by three shots from Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama
Justin Thomas secured a back-to-back CIMB Classic title on Sunday after posting a flawless eight-under-par 64 to erase a four-stroke overnight deficit in the only PGA Tour event he has ever won.
Thomas finished at 23-under overall at TPC Kuala Lumpur, three shots ahead of Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama, whose final round 66 was not enough to keep up.
Both of the 23-year-old Thomas’s two PGA Tour wins have now come at the tournament in Malaysia.
On Saturday, he had been cruising toward the title when he dropped four shots in a disastrous three-hole stretch to start his back nine.
That put India’s Anirban Lahiri in the driver’s seat with a four-stroke lead coming into the final round, but on Sunday it was his turn to falter after stumbling badly on the third hole with a quadruple bogey nine.
Although he clawed back with a birdie and an eagle on the next two holes, a bogey quickly followed and Lahiri’s title hopes were in dire straits.
