Bedfordshire’s Steve Lewton ended a 10-year wait to declare his 2nd success on the Asian Tour after winning the Mandiri Indonesia Open after a nail-biting play-off.

Experiencing the complete range of feelings, the 41-year-old from Woburn, who signed up with the Asian Tour back in 2012, won with a birdie on the 2nd additional hole versus third-round leader Aaron Wilkin from Australia and Chinese novice pro Sampson Zheng.

Lewton began the last round one behind Wilkin, and playing in the penultimate pairing with Zheng and another Chinese golf enthusiast, Liu Yanwei. His quote for magnificence started with 3 birdies in a row from the 5th and another on 9 to head out in four-under. Another birdie followed on 10, before the drama began with bogeys on 13 and 14.

Lewton still searched course to win in policy play when he birdied 16 and 17 at Damai Indah Golf Course in Jakarta for a two-shot lead, however he made a destructive double-bogey on the par-four 18th, where his drive landed in a danger left of the tee.

Sudden death play-off

He returned a three-under 68 for a competition overall of 16-under, while Zheng shot the very same rating and Wilkin a 69 to send out the competition into a 3-man unexpected death play-off.

When they went back to the 18th they all made bogey, with Lewton coming closest to making a par when missing out on a four-footer.

Lewton almost discovered the risk once again on the 2nd additional hole, however his ball was lucky to stop on a cart course. He capitalised on that huge piece of luck and struck his 2nd to 8 feet. He appropriately made the putt to sign up among the year’s most popular wins. Zheng almost broke in for a birdie, while Wilkin missed his 3 from 12 feet.

Lewton, whose first win came at the Taiwan Masters in 2014, 2 years after he initially began using the Asian Tour, stated: “It’s been a long, long time since I’ve had that winning feeling. I have been second in this tournament for the past two years, and I feel it owed me one. I feel like I’ve been playing quite well over the last two or three seasons, so it’s just nice to finally get one over the line and win a tournament again.”

Speaking about his last round, he included: “I got through 10 holes, and I felt like I was kind of coasting. And then I made it difficult again with those dropped shots on 13 and 14, and then I birdied 16 and 17, and then I had a mini disaster on 18. I was just very happy to get it done the second time of asking in the play-off, and I am delighted not to have finished second again!”