Peter Lawrie picked up his biggest cheque for 805 days when he finished tied for 16th behind India’s Anirban Lahiri at the Maybank Malaysian Open.

World No 73 Lahiri, who was at the Q-School with Lawrie last November, overcame a five shot deficit to claim his first European Tour title at Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club.

It was a milestone win for 27-year old Lahiri, who won his European Tour card at the Q-School and finished second in the Asian Tour's Order of Merit last year.

But it was also an important week for 40-year old Lawrie, who made €34,898 and is now 73rd in the Race to Dubai standings with €51,862 from five starts having made three successive cuts for the first time since February 2013.

The Dubliner last won €34,000 at the 2013 Irish Open, which signalled the start of a nightmare run for the former Spanish Open champion.

He lost his card at the end of last year but with renewed confidence in his game and the backing of a new sponsor, he's steadied the ship and today's cheque was the biggest he's banked since he finished 14th in the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai more than two years ago.

Lawrie closed with a two under par 70, mixing an eagle three at the third with four birdies and four bogeys and while he must rely on sponsor's invitatations for starts this year, he's given himself an excellent chance of winning back his card.

Two birdies  in the last four holes proved lucrative for Lawrie on a day when eventual champion Lahiri added a 68 to his third round 62 to win the title.

A 40-foot putt for birdie at the 17th edged the India ahead of overnight leader Bernd Wiesberger, who closed with a 74 to finish second on 15 under.

Austrian Wiesberger birdied the first two holes to open up a five stroke advantage, but he double-bogeyed the par five fifth and played the back nine in two over, missing a birdie attempt from 20 feet at the par five 18th which would have forced a play-off.

Graeme McDowell had another very poor day on the greens, taking 35 putts in three over 75 that relegated him to tied 36th on two under.

The Portrush man will forget all about his woes for a few hours at least when he hosts a Golf Invitational alongside LA Galaxy skipper Robbie Keane at Sherwood Country Club on Monday in aid of the The Children’s Medical Research Foundation (CMRF) http://cmrfinc.com/sherwood/ and Our Lady's Children's Hospital in Crumlin.

Michael Hoey also had 35 putts in a 77 that saw him slip 34 spots to tied 52nd on two over while Paul McGinley also shot 77 to end the week tied 73rd on 11 over.

Champion Lahiri certainly wasn't complaining about his putting after four birdies in his first five holes set him on the road to victory.

“I was just trying to focus on getting off to a good start," he said. "That was the key yesterday to a low round. There are a lot of birdie opportunities early in the round and then you have some more towards the end – it’s the middle part of the golf course that’s hard to navigate.

"Luckily for me I made some good putts early in the round and I knew that if I played consistently and put some pressure on, maybe I would have a chance on the back nine. As it turned out, that’s what happened.

“The 17th was a big boost for me. I missed some good opportunities on 15 and 16, so it was a very important putt and the shot of the day for me.”

It's was Wiesberger's fourth Top-6 finish in a row and while he hasn't won since he took the CIMB Niaga Indonesian Masters in 2013, it looks like only a matter of time.

“It hasn’t quite finished the way I intended to," he said. "That’s what golf is. After the hiccup on the fifth, I didn’t hit it anywhere near as well as the last 15 rounds. 

"It’s tough to say but it is what it is and unfortunately I beat myself out of it today. Still, it’s a good week. Congratulations to Anirban, who played a lovely round today. I will try again.”

England's Lee Westwood (75) tied for fifth and earned € 87,344 to overtake Ernie Els at the top of the European Tour Career Money List with €30,566,013.

Final Scores:

272 A Lahiri (Ind) 70 72 62 68, 

273 B Wiesberger  (Aut) 70 66 63 74, 

275 A Cañizares  (Esp) 68 65 68 74, P Waring  (Eng) 69 68 65 73, 

277 P Peterson (USA) 72 69 64 72, L Westwood (Eng) 66 67 69 75, R Lee (Can) 69 69 68 71, G Bourdy (Fra) 70 70 68 69, 

278 M Warren (Sco) 70 71 69 68, 

279 S Chawrasia (Ind) 76 67 68 68, 

280 N Holman  (Aus) 72 71 71 66, W Ormsby (Aus) 73 69 71 67, R Bland (Eng) 68 70 73 69, 

281 S Hend (Aus) 73 72 66 70, J Wang (Kor) 77 66 67 71, 

282 Peter Lawrie (Irl) 71 66 75 70, R Rock (Eng) 70 70 74 68, T Pieters  (Bel) 73 73 70 66, P Uihlein  (USA) 72 72 65 73, 

283 T Jaidee (Tha) 72 73 67 71, J Higginbottom (Aus) 69 71 67 76, P Larrazábal (Esp) 73 69 67 74, A Quiros  (Esp) 70 70 67 76, T Khrongpha (Tha) 74 69 70 70, 

284 J Pagunsan (Phi) 71 69 74 70, M Madsen  (Den) 72 70 70 72, M Fraser (Aus) 72 69 72 71, R Jacquelin (Fra) 71 72 70 71, D Chia (Mas) 67 74 69 74, P Meesawat  (Tha) 68 72 70 74, G Green (am) (Mas) 74 68 73 69, 

285 G Havret  (Fra) 72 72 69 72, L Wen-Chong (Chn) 74 72 67 72, J Quesne  (Fra) 71 72 71 71, A Hansen (Den) 68 76 69 72, 

286 R Khan  (Ind) 73 73 73 67, A Dodt (Aus) 69 73 73 71, Graeme McDowell (Nir) 66 73 72 75, E Grillo (Arg) 70 73 71 72, J Carlsson (Swe) 74 69 68 75, T Pilkadaris (Aus) 71 72 70 73, 

287 S Kang (Kor) 67 74 69 77, D Lipsky (USA) 72 73 70 72, C Pigem (Esp) 73 71 69 74, M Jiménez (Esp) 72 71 71 73, 

288 S Kapur (Ind) 72 71 74 71, 

289 J Janewattananond (Tha) 77 69 69 74, R Karlsson (Swe) 70 76 72 71, A Sullivan (Eng) 70 70 72 77, N Colsaerts  (Bel) 70 74 67 78, E Molinari  (Ita) 72 73 73 71, 

290 H Chien-Yao (Tpe) 75 70 73 72, F Aguilar (Chi) 70 74 70 76, S Othman  (Mas) 73 71 70 76, Michael Hoey (Nir) 75 70 68 77, M Foster (Eng) 71 73 74 72, C Plaphol (Tha) 76 68 72 74, 

291 A Que (Phi) 72 72 74 73, S Jamieson  (Sco) 73 72 72 74, 

292 R Wattel  (Fra) 70 73 71 78, A Lascuna (Phi) 74 72 73 73, S Gallacher (Sco) 69 77 71 75, O Fisher  (Eng) 73 73 73 73, 

293 L Wei-Chih (Tpe) 77 67 74 75, M Tabuena (Phi) 74 72 76 71, S Brazel (Aus) 73 71 78 71, H Otto (RSA) 73 69 76 75, 

294 R Finch  (Eng) 73 73 75 73, 

295 S Dyson  (Eng) 72 73 72 78, N Fung (Mas) 71 71 76 77, M Lundberg (Swe) 71 74 72 78, 

297 R Nachimuthu  (Mas) 73 72 75 77, 

299 T Fleetwood  (Eng) 67 79 73 80, Paul McGinley (Irl) 69 76 77 77