Selangor, Malaysia – Bo Van Pelt stealthily moved up the leaderboard on Saturday, but on Sunday he took center stage and shined.
Van Pelt finished the CIMB Asia Pacific Classic Malaysia with an impressive seven-under 64, allowing him to cruise to a six-stroke victory at The Mines Resort & Golf Club.
It's Van Pelt's second career victory and first since the 2009 U.S. Bank Championship in Milwaukee, and he did it by going bogey-free over the tournament's last 34 holes to finish at a tournament-record 23-under 261. He entered the day one shot ahead of Jeff Overton, but increased the lead to three by the fourth hole and six by the 14th.
Van Pelt finally came through this year after five previous top-10 finishes in 2011. It was his fifth career 54-hole lead coming into the day, and he managed to overcome his previous scoring average of 75.75 in such situations.
The performance made a distant runner-up of Overton (69), who will have to wait for another week to capture his first PGA Tour title. He's had several second place finishes to his name, but a title eludes him, and his 17-under 267 wasn't close to good enough to contend with Van Pelt.
Overton put himself in great position with his course-record 62 in Friday's second round, but shot only a combined four-under over the last two days to fall short. Still, it's the best finish of the year for Overton, a 2010 Ryder Cup participant.
Fredrik Jacobson (68) finished third at 16-under, while Cameron Tringale (64), Camilo Villegas (66) and Mark Wilson (69) shared fourth at 15-under 269.
Sunday, though, belonged to Van Pelt.
MORE TO FOLLOW.
Receive your weekly recap of all the happenings around the world of sports.