Ryan Moore wins CIMB Classic

Ryan Moore birdied the first hole of a sudden-death playoff to beat fellow American Gary Woodland and claim victory in the CIMB Classic at Kuala Lumpur G&CC in Malaysia.

Moore and Woodland had finished regulation play tied on 14-under-par but darkness prevented them settling the tournament on Sunday. They returned to the course on Monday morning and Moore needed only one hole to secure his third PGA Tour title.

He played two solid shots on the par-5 18th to set up his approach. With an 8-iron he fired a fantastic third to within five feet of the cup. When Woodland was unable to make birdie from off the green, Moore was left with a short putt for the title. He rolled it in with confidence to take the victory.

"I had a great opportunity there on 18 with my third shot and it was just an absolute perfect number," he said. "It was coincidentally the exact shot I was working on on the range. I've always enjoyed playing in the fall. I'm not sure why," he said. "It's actually kind of funny, I won a week before my son was born last year; I won a week after his birthday this year."

With the win, Moore has climbed to second in the early PGA Tour FedEx Cup standings and has risen to 31st on the Official World Golf Ranking.

Woodland might have won in regulation play. He had a 10-foot putt on the 72nd green to take the victory outright, but it just missed. He was disappointed not to take top spot, but can be consoled by his remarkable return to form. He has struggled with wrist injuries in recent seasons and his World Ranking had fallen as low as 268th.

"I put a lot of hard work in," he said. "It's been a process with the changes I've made and it's finally starting to come together, which is nice. I put a lot of work in on the short game, a lot of work on the middle game, and we're starting to put it together now."

Thailand's Kiradech Aphibarnrat finished the week tied for third with Chris Stroud.

CIMB Classic Kuala Lumpur Golf & Country Club, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Oct 24-27, purse $7,000,000, par 72

1   Ryan Moore (USA)   63   72   69   70   274   $1,260,000 2   Gary Woodland (USA)   68   70   67   69   274   $756,000 T3   Kiradech Aphibarnrat (Tha) 67 69   69   70   275   $406,000 T3   Chris Stroud (USA)   67   69   68   71   275   $406,000 5   Aaron Baddeley (Aus)   73   67   70   66   276   $280,000 6   Jimmy Walker (USA)   74   68   67   68   277   $252,000 T7   Harris English (USA)   71   67   71   69   278   $218,167 T7   Charles Howell III (USA) 69   72   69   68   278   $218,167 T7   Graham DeLaet (Can)   72   67   68   71   278   $218,167 10   Keegan Bradley (USA)   65   66   76   72   279   $189,000

Note: Player score in bold signifies Titleist ball usage

Where next? European Tour - Gonzalo Fdz-Castano wins BMW Masters