Ran(dhawa) out of gas, Jyoti finished tied 8th

Singapore, Mar 11 (UNI) Jyoti Randhawa came up with his worst in the last, carding an atrocious three-over 75 final round to finish tied eighth in the 1.1 dollar co-sanctioned Singapore Masters here today.

Eyeing his maiden European Tour triumph, Randhawa, placed third overnight, failed miserably to control his swing and regain his putting touch as he dropped four strokes in seven holes to knock himself out of the title race.

The ace Indian golfer aggregated 8-under 280 to finish three strokes off the pace. While Randhawa lacked tenacity, Liang Wen-Chong of China showed plenty of it as he pipped Malaysian Ian Steel in the playoff to lift his first European/Asian Tour title.

It was a nail-biting finish after both Liang (73) and Steel (71) ended the tournament on 11-under-par 277. The 29-year-old Chinese kept his cool and made a solid par putt on the play off 18th hole against Steel's double bogey after the Malaysian's wayward drive found the water at the Laguna National Golf and Country Club.

It was a timely win for Liang who had come close to contention this season at the Philippine Open before his triumph this week where he walked away with the top prize of 183,330 dollars.

Meanwhile barring Randhawa, none other Indian in the fray was able to register a strong finish. Rahil Gangjee (69) did play some good golf in the last round but that could lift him only to tied 39 position. Jeev Milkha Singh failed to impress yet again and the Asian Tour Order of the Merit winner in 2006 carded a three-over 75 today to drop to tied 46th spot.

Gaurav Ghei continued to struggle for a second successive day and his 74 could fetch him only tied 55th.

UNI