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Fraser lands his biggest win

Jeju Island - Unheralded Marcus Fraser landed the biggest victory of his career after he carded a final-round three-under-par 69 to win the Ballantine's Championship on Sunday.

The Australian held his nerve under pressure to win by four shots with a three-day total of 12-under-par 204 at the $2.9m showpiece, which had been reduced to a 54-stroke play tournament after dense fog.

Gareth Maybin of Northern Ireland and Australian Brett Rumford took a share of second place on 208 at a blustery Pinx Golf Club on the South Korean holiday island of Jeju.

Fraser's victory at an event sanctioned by the Asian Tour, European Tour and the Korea PGA ended a seven-year title drought for the Australian, and he was visibly emotional afterwards.

"I had so many chances to win over the last seven years so to go out there and play like I did today and this week was simply unbelievable," said Fraser, whose maiden European Tour victory was in Russia in 2003.

Fraser, whose victory here was achieved in the most testing of weather, said he had thought of giving up on the game about three years ago.

"I thought about giving it away, just because I was playing terrible," he said.

"My golf swing wasn't improving and everything wasn't really getting any better. I thought I was wasting my time and started to question myself and asking whether I deserved to be out.

"It has been a lot of hard work over the last couple of years to get back into this position this week, which is definitely a life-changing one," said the Australian, who took home the winner's prize purse of nearly 500,000 dollars.

Two-time Asian Tour winner Noh Seung-Yul of Korea closed with his best round score of 68 for the week to take equal fourth with England's Oliver Fisher on 209.

Singapore's Mardan Mamat enjoyed his best result of the season by signing for a 72 to take a share of sixth place alongside Wales' Jamie Donaldson and Robert-Jan Derksen of the Netherlands on 210.

Noh flew the flag for the home nation after compatriot Ted Oh, who started the day tied for fifth, fell out of contention with a disastrous 81.

The 18-year-old Noh opened strongly with two birdies and an eagle in his front-nine. He birdied the 10th hole but dropped his only shot of the round on the par-four 12th.

"It was a tough week especially with the fog delay during the opening round," said Noh.

"The weather conditions were tough but I'm happy I played well under all these circumstances and I know that my game can only get better when I play with these strong players and under all these testing conditions."

Defending champion Thongchai Jaidee of Thailand signed off with a disappointing 75 to take tied-ninth place on 211, along with Ernie Els.

Leading final-round scores (Tournament reduced to 54 holes due to poor weather):

204 - Marcus Fraser (AUS) 65-70-69
208 - Gareth Maybin (NIR) 68-68-72, Brett Rumford (AUS) 67-70-71
209 - Noh Seung-Yul (KOR) 71-70-68, Oliver Fisher (ENG) 68-70-71
210 - Jamie Donaldson (WAL) 68-72-70, Robert-Jan Derksen (NED) 71-68-71, Mardan Mamat (SIN) 68-70-72
211 - Mikko Ilonen (FIN) 69-73-69, Niclas Fasth (SWE) 70-70-71, Ernie Els (RSA) 68-69-74, Tano Goya (ARG) 66-70-75, Thongchai Jaidee (THA) 69-67-75
212 - Kang Kyung-nam (KOR) 69-73-70, Kim Dae-hyun (KOR) 68-72-72
213 - Felipe Aguilar (CHI) 69-75-69, Maarten Lafeber (NED) 73-71-69, Kim Kyung-tae (KOR) 71-71-71, Anthony Kim (USA) 68-74-71, Peter Hanson (SWE) 68-72-73, Johan Edfors (SWE) 68-71-74
214 - Henrik Stenson (SWE) 69-70-75

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