Maybank Championship: Ben Coley tip Shubhankar Sharma wins with final round of 62

Day four report

Shubhankar Sharma shot a brilliant final round of 62 to win the Maybank Championship by two strokes, in the process landing an 80/1 winner for our golf expert Ben Coley (@BenColeyGolf).

The Indian did not drop a shot as he carded a 10-under round at Saujana Golf & Country Club to finish on 21 under, two clear of Spain's Jorge Campillo.

Ben Coley wrote of Sharma:

"Making cuts among unfamiliar surroundings and on big golf courses in both Abu Dhabi and Dubai is entirely positive and the combination of a drop in grade and return to a familiar layout makes him a live player at 80s."

Campillo's compatriot Pablo Larrazabal was a shot further back on 18 under alongside New Zealander Ryan Fox.

Campillo had started the day four shots ahead of Sharma but the Indian birdied four holes in a row from the fourth and added another at the ninth to turn in 31, just one shot adrift.

Further birdies on the 11th, 13th and 14th soon saw him take the lead and there was no catching him after also making gains on the 17th and 18th.

He told Europeantour.com: "I played pretty solid and it wasn't easy because it was windy. I kept pushing the whole day.

"I knew I had to make a lot of birdies to catch the leaders. I made a lot of birdies on the front nine and just continued on the back.

"To be honest, I wasn't thinking about the leaderboard. I wanted to set a target in my mind and try to achieve it.

"On the 13th I knew I was somewhere near the leaders but on 16 I knew I had a two-shot lead. I told myself 'if I can make two more birdies, that would give me a good chance to win'."

Day three leaders

-15 Jorge Campillo, Dylan Frittelli

-14 Berry Henson, Khalin Joshi

Day three report

Dylan Frittelli is 11/4 favourite for the Maybank Championship with Sky Bet as he heads into the final round joint-leader alongside Jorgo Campillo (11/2).

It promises to be a dramatic final day after a third round in which 13 players held a share of the lead at some point.

As the rest of the pack fought for supremacy in Kuala Lumpur, Campillo and Fratelli were able to post bogey-free rounds of 66 to reach 15 under.

That gave the pair a one-shot lead over American Berry Henson (12/1) and India's Khalin Joshi (22/1) who both hit 65s.

Scotland's Marc Warren lies tied for fifth with five other players on 13 under after carding 69. His group is also made up of Thailand's Prayad Marksaeng and Phachara Khongwatmai, Japanese pair Hideto Tanihara and Ryo Ishikawa and Italian Nino Bertasio.

England's Lee Westwood had been in contention after the second round more than two decades after his first victory at the Saujana Golf & Country Club but dropped down the order after a third-round 70 and is out to 25/1.

He finished the third day as part of an eight-man group tied for 11th on 12 under par which also included Spain's Pablo Larrazabal.

English pair Andrew Johnston and Chris Paisley and Scotland's Scott Jamieson lie two shots further back on 10 under.

Day two leaders

-11 Pachara Khongwatmai, Nino Bertasio

-10 Lee Westwood, Yuta Ikeda, Marc Warren, Chris Paisley

• Click here for the latest Sky Bet odds

Day two report

England's Lee Westwood carded his lowest round in over five years to move into contention at the Maybank Championship where it's 8/1 the field at halfway.

The 44-year-old made 11 birdies on his way to a stunning 62 on Friday as he seeks to end a trophy drought which extends back to the spring of 2015 by moving into a tie for third.

Westwood won the Malaysian Open in 1997 and again in 2014, and now heads into the weekend in a strong position for a third title on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur.

Sky Bet make him a 10/1 chance with no fewer than 16 players priced between 8/1 and 33s.

"It was enjoyable, there were a lot of birdies going in out there," said Westwood. "It’s nice to be in contention and to know this golf course well. I won the Malaysian Open here 21 years ago now, and I’ve won this tournament and was touring pro for this course, so I’ve probably played it more than most and I know where to hit it.

"I hit it close a lot and a pretty pain-free round. Gave myself a lot of birdie chances, so it was a really good ball striking round and I holed out well as well. I was pleased with the way today went and hopefully we can build on that more."

Sharing the clubhouse lead with him are Yuta Ikeda (16/1), Marc Warren (22/1) and Chris Paisley (8/1 favourite), the latter extending his stretch of under-par rounds to 14 with a 69 which included birdies at all four par-fives.

The Hexham pro almost made a hole-in-one at the par-three 16th before tapping in for birdie, and curled in another at the final hole to remain firmly in the mix.

• Sky Bet Price Boost: Paisley or Westwood to win at 5/1

Warren, who led after an opening 63 here at Saujana a year ago, carded his first bogey of the tournament in an otherwise excellent second-round 66, while Ikeda showed why he's the third-highest-ranked player in the field with a bogey-free 64.

While it was a veteran who starred in the morning, 18-year-old Phachara Khongwatmai (10/1) produced a second-round 65 to move to the front on 11-under.

The teen sensation, who won a professional golf tournament at the age of 14, made five birdies in a row from the 11th hole to head a congested leaderboard.

He was later joined by Italy's Nino Bertasio (12/1), who put the finishing touches to his own second-round 65 late in the day.

Day one report

Chris Paisley continued his sparkling start to 2018 by posting the clubhouse target on day one of the Maybank Championship.

The 31-year-old, who won the BMW SA Open at the start of the month before top-five finishes in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, fired a flawless seven-under 65 to once again sit top of the leaderboard.

A weather delay on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur meant that some of the afternoon starters were unable to complete their rounds, with Frenchman Mike Lorenzo-Vera within one of Paisley with two holes to play.

Alongside him is David Horsey after an opening 66, while Andrew Johnston, David Lipsky and Alex Levy are among a group on five-under having each carded rounds of 67.

It's been a sensational start to the season for Paisley, the Hexham pro who sat outside the world's top 250 at the end of last year but now finds himself at number 80 and within touching distance of the game's elite.

And while his previous form in the Far East amounts to little, this is a new version of a player at the top of his game and now just 7/1 for a second European Tour title with Sky Bet.

Starting on the 10th, Paisley made birdies at holes 11, 13, 17 and 18 in an outward 32, and while he could not take care of the par-fives on the front nine was still able to add a trio of birdies for seven in total.

He's yet to fail to break par in 13 rounds so far this year and has just one round worse than 69 as he continues to climb the rankings and threaten a surprise Ryder Cup spot.

"It was great and nice to keep the form going," he said. "I just played really solid, hit it well off the tee so gave myself a lot of wedges and short irons into the greens which were really good and gave myself a lot of birdie chances, couldn’t have gone better.

"It's very hot and not much wind, so scoring wise it is quite easy but to keep your focus is quite difficult with how tiring the heat is but it is good fun."

With this year's renewal set for Paris, the Ryder Cup will certainly be on the mind of three of Paisley's closest pursuers with a strong French presence on the leaderboard.

Levy, who has finished seventh and fourth in two starts this year, bogeyed his final hole on Thursday but still appears nicely poised to continue his run of form and tops the market at 6/1.

Play resumes at 0750 local time on Friday, with 40 players still to complete round one.

Related links

• Sky Bet's latest golf odds