Fabrizio Zanotti (AP/Vincent Thian)

Fabrizio Zanotti displayed an outstanding finish with a flawless 63 to win the 2017 Maybank Championship, on Sunday, as Danny Willet of Britain missed the chance of his first victory since last year’s Masters Tournament.

The Paraguayan began the day at the Saujana Golf and Country Club six shots off the lead, but a birdie on the 71st hole saw him hit the top of the leaderboard for the first time all week.

Things got even better for the 33-year-old, whose previous European Tour title was back in 2014, when he eagled the 18th to finish 19-under-par, a shot ahead of American David Lipsky.

Lipsky had been the leader over much of the back nine, and he too birdied the 17th, but could not repeat the trick on the last to set up a play-off.

A par saw Lipsky finish at 18-under, a shot ahead of Austria’s Bernd Wiesberger and two clear of France’s Alexander Levy.

Willett entered the final day with a three-shot lead, but a closing 73 saw him slip to 15-under alongside China’s Li Haotong.

Zanotti arrived in Malaysia off the back of three missed cuts on the Desert Swing, but made a stunning return to form to claim his first win since he triumphed in a play-off at the 2014 BMW International Open.

“I think it was probably the best round of my career, so I’m very happy,” he said. “It was a really good day, a really good week, and I’m really happy.

“I think it was at the 15th where I thought I might be able to win, when I made a birdie there. I thought, maybe I’ll have a chance, if I make two more birdies, but I made a birdie and an eagle, so it was great.

“It feels really good to be a winner again. I’ve been working a lot, and I was not in my best run of form, missing three cuts in a row, but that’s in the past, and today I’m a winner again, and it feels great.”

Levy, Lipsky and Willett were in the final group, and they battled it out for supremacy on the front nine, with Levy catching Willett at the turn, but behind them Zanotti was making his move.

The 33-year-old birdied from 1.8 meters on the third and then put his tee-shot on the fifth to 3 m and holed a tricky right-to-lefter.

A tap-in on the sixth and a smart up-and-down from a bunker on the eighth saw him turn in 32, but with Lipsky rattling off four birdies in a row from the tenth, victory still looked a long shot.

Zanotti continued his dominance of the par fives as he got on the 13th in two and a 4.5 m left-to-righter on the 15th had him just one shot off the lead.

An approach to 3.6 m on the 17th then saw him hit the summit before his big finish.

Lipsky turned in 35 before going on his brilliant birdie run, but a bogey on the 14th stalled his momentum, before a stunning approach to the 17th gave him a chance up the last.

The 2017 Maybank Championship is co-sanctioned by Asian Tour and European Tour. It offered US$3 million in the purse.

Indonesia’s only golfer, George Gandrawinata, who missed the cut, said the event was a tough competition.

“It’s a European Tour event, and you need to be at your best [to reach the final round],” said George, who produced an on-par 72 in the first round and a three-over in the second round at Saujana.

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