Thongchai Jaidee may have no problem jumping out of aeroplanes and waving around machine guns but he admitted to never having felt as nervous as he did in the closing stages of his historic victory at the Carlsberg Malaysian Open.

But the 34-year-old, who was a paratrooper in the Royal Thai Army before turning professional, showed the kind of mental strength required in a soldier to become the first Thai golfer to win a tournament on the European Tour.

After two bogeys on his outward nine, Jaidee retained his composure and responded with a stunning run for home, sinking four birdies and a spectacular hole-in-one to charge onto 14 under par.

Australian Brad Kennedy was his nearest challenger but, requiring a birdie on the last to force a play-off, he three putted for bogey and Jaidee clinched the title by two shots.

"I've dreamed for so long to win on the European Tour," said Jaidee, who is now fourth on the European Order of Merit and top of the Asian Tour money list.

"I am very happy to win. I had a good feeling when I came here as I won the Myanmar Open last week.

"I tried to maintain my emotions today. I was very nervous over that birdie putt on the last.

"I wasn't sure I was going to win. I saw that Brad Kennedy was a couple of shots behind and I went on to the range to get ready for a possible play-off. But I won."

It was Jaidee's third title in six tournaments after victories at the Myanmar Open last weekend and the Volvo Asian Masters in December.

So consistent is his form at present that he was a top 10 finisher in the other three, which included fourth place at the Johnnie Walker Classic.

Victory here was set up by an eight-under-par third round - completed on Sunday morning after a tropical storm curtailed play on Saturday night - that catapulted him up the leaderboard and right into contention.

That remarkable six-under-par run then home proved the difference. The hole-in-one and the nerve-wracking birdie on the last, as it turned out, won him the tournament.

"This week has been very big, very exciting. Now it is live on television in Thailand and I am very happy," said Jaidee.

"I came back. On the 10th I made birdie, the 13th I chipped in and the 16th was a hole-in-one. My game changed on the 16th green.

"I hit the shot with a bit of draw. You can't see the green from the tee and I was just trying to get it on the green."

In the event, it pitched 15 feet from the hole, bounced three times and dropped in to effectively seal Jaidee the US$201,000 first prize, the biggest cheque he had ever won.

Kennedy, who also finished second here last year, felt he had to do something "pretty special" to win this week and came within a whisker of pulling it off.

"I am really pleased with the week," said the Queenslander, who moved up to ninth on the Order of Merit after a busy start to the year.

"This was my sixth event in a row on the European Tour and the result will hopefully take me closer to getting my card.

"This gets me into Dubai now so that's a boost and I could get Qatar and hopefully a few more during the year."

Frenchman Thomas Levet was the leading European and finished tied for third alongside Thailand's Prayad Marksaeng and Chawalit Plaphol.

Spain's Miguel Angel Jiminez and England's Andrew Marshall shared the money for sixth place on eight under par, with David Dixon one shot further back.

He was joined on seven under by three others including South Korean Lee Sung-man who led heading into the third round on 12 under but ended shooting a 77 to slip back.

Ireland's Paul McGinley ended a turbulent day on six under par but his victory hopes had been extinguished in the morning when he dropped four shots in three holes while completing his rain-affected third round.

McGinley had been in touch with the leaders since day one but two bogeys and a double bogey in four holes proved his undoing.

It left him on four under par heading into the final round, eight off the pace, and with the unforgiving 'Cobra' not lending itself to attacking golf, McGinley conceded defeat on the spot.

"I tried to rally today but it just didn't happen, I was too far behind," he said.

"You can't have three three-putts and a double bogey when you are in contention.

"Except for four holes I was right in the middle of the tournament, I got on a bad run this morning and things just didn't role for me. It wasn't my week."

Colin Montgomerie geared up for next week's Accenture Matchplay with another top 20 finish in a 10-way tie on five under par, alongside England's John Bickerton, Richard McEvoy and Wales' Stephen Dodd.

Collated final round scores and totals in the Carlsberg Malaysian Open, Saujana G & CC, Malaysia

(Eng unless stated, par 72):

274 Thongchai Jaidee (Tha) 71 71 64 68

276 Brad Kennedy (Aus) 69 70 70 67

278 Prayad Marksaeng (Tha) 70 69 69 70, Thomas Levet (Fra) 69 70 69 70, Chawalit Plaphol (Tha) 68 72 65 73

280 Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa) 70 72 67 71, Andrew Marshall 71 69 68 72

281 Sung-Man Lee (Kor) 69 68 67 77, David Dixon 70 73 69 69, Thavorn Wiratchant (Tha) 70 67 72 72, Klas Eriksson (Swe) 68 74 70 69

282 Paul McGinley (Irl) 68 70 74 70, Wen-Tang Lin (Tpe) 70 75 67 70, Mikko Ilonen (Fin) 68 68 75 71, Jason Knutzon (USA) 71 69 68 74

283 Richard McEvoy 70 73 69 71, Colin Montgomerie (Sco) 73 66 72 72, Marcus Fraser (Aus) 69 72 67 75, Stephen Dodd (Wal) 68 73 75 67, Greg Hanrahan (USA) 68 70 74 71, Martin Maritz (Rsa) 66 74 72 71, Jose Manuel Carriles (Spa) 72 70 71 70, John Bickerton 70 75 71 67, Yong-eun Yang (Kor) 71 70 75 67, Robert Karlsson (Swe) 68 71 73 71

284 Jyoti Randhawa (Ind) 72 71 70 71, Wade Ormsby (Aus) 73 70 69 72, Marcus Both (Aus) 74 69 70 71, Johan Edfors (Swe) 74 69 69 72, Martin Erlandsson (Swe) 68 74 71 71

285 Thammanoon Srirot (Tha) 71 73 72 69, Stephen A Lindskog (Swe) 72 73 71 69, David Howell 69 71 78 67, James Hepworth 69 70 73 73, Mads Vibe-Hastrup (Den) 72 69 69 75, Joakim Haeggman (Swe) 73 71 73 68

286 Padraig Harrington (Irl) 69 74 71 72, Yuan-chi Chen (Tpe) 73 70 73 70, Martin Lemesurier 70 75 71 70, Kya Hla Han (Myn) 73 70 72 71

287 Jose Manuel Lara (Spa) 68 74 71 74, Terry Price (Aus) 66 73 77 71, Harmeet Kahlon (Ind) 73 72 71 71, Chris Gane 74 69 72 72, Costantino Rocca (Ita) 69 72 73 73, Anthony Kang (USA) 68 74 73 72, Andrew Pitts (USA) 71 69 71 76

288 Fredrik Andersson Hed (Swe) 75 64 74 75, Sushi Ishigaki (Jpn) 72 72 73 71, Charlie Wi (Kor) 75 67 79 67

289 Satoshi Tomiyama (Jpn) 71 71 71 76, Stuart Little 73 72 69 75, Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind) 74 71 71 73, Damien McGrane (Irl) 70 75 72 72

290 Amandeep Johl (Ind) 73 72 72 73, Mattias Eliasson (Swe) 75 68 70 77

291 Stephen Scahill (Nzl) 72 72 71 76

292 Warren Bennett 71 71 74 76, Sam Walker 70 72 73 77, Mike Cunning (USA) 71 69 73 79, Wen-Ko Lin (Kor) 72 73 76 71

293 Eddie Lee (Aus) 70 75 69 79, Francois Delamontagne (Fra) 71 74 73 75

294 Robert Jan Derksen (Ned) 69 74 77 74, Jeppe Huldahl (Den) 75 68 73 78

295 Jamie Elson 66 74 78 77, Robert Rock 74 70 75 76

297 Chris Williams 70 75 74 78

298 Sven Struver (Ger) 72 73 76 77

300 Scott Taylor (USA) 71 72 80 77