Malaysian golfer Steel wins Taiwan title

Malaysian golfer Iain Steel claimed his long-awaited maiden victory on the Asian Development Tour (ADT) with a sizzling final round eight-under-par 64 at the Ballantine's Taiwan Championship here Sunday.

After four days of intense battle, the Malaysian finally emerged top of the field when he fired 10 birdies against two bogeys to sign off with a winning total of 11-under-par 277 at the $110,000 Asian Development Tour (ADT) event, which is the richest tournament on the schedule.

Australian rookie Daniel Bringolf settled for second place after closing with a 69 while England's Steve Lewton, who led after the first two rounds, closed with a 72 to share third place with overnight leader, Yeh Wei-tze of Chinese Taipei on matching 280s at the Sunrise Golf and Country Club.

Canadian Lindsay Renolds and local amateur Lee Chieh-po carded rounds of 73 and 74 respectively to finish a further shot back on equal fifth while three-time Asian Tour winner Lu Wei-chih, who made a comeback after taking a year's medical leave to recover from a brain tumour surgery, settled for seventh place on 283.

Steel's victory was a welcome relief as he had to endure years of frustration of missing out on a grandstand finish that was caused largely by a back injury.

"This win means a lot to me. It definitely boosted my confidence, a lot. I've been suffering from a back injury for two years now and it has kind of sidelined my game as I have to cope with a sore back most of the time," said Steel.

Leading final round scores:

277 - Iain STEEL (MSA) 73-70-70-64

278 - Daniel BRINGOLG (AUS) 70-72-67-69

280 - Steve LEWTON (ENG) 65-67-76-72, YEH Wei-tze (TWN) 70-70-67-73

281 - Lindsay RENOLDS (CAN) 68-71-69-73, LEE Chieh-po (A) (TWN) 70-70-67-74

283 - LU Wei-chih (TWN) 72-70-69-72

284 - LU Wen-teh (TWN) 78-68-71-67, HUNG Chien-yao (TWN) 71-70-74-69, CHANG Tse-Peng (TWN) 72-70-70-72, CHAN Yih-shin (TWN) 74-70-68-72, Darren TAN (AUS) 72-72-68-72, Grant JACKSON (ENG) 70-70-71-73

--Indo-Asia News Service

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