Lyle had been without a victory since winning the last of his 18 European Tour titles in the 1992 Volvo Masters but the Scot brought that barren run to a commanding end with a flawless final round 70 over the World Cup Course at Mission Hills to finish on 12 under par 204, three strokes clear of Australian Peter Fowler.
“You wonder after about four or five years whether you’ll ever win again let alone nearly 20, so this is very special, “I joined the Senior Tour and it didn’t happen as quickly as I expected it to so you do have doubts. My trophy cabinet has been gathering dust over the years so I feel relieved to get a win and it’s even better that it’s here in China on this course. This answers a lot of questions I had about myself.”
“This victory is very sweet as it’s obviously been such a long time,” said Lyle. “I said a couple of years ago that I’d be happy just to win a Par Three contest – it had been that long.
Lyle, who as an ambassador for title sponsor ISPS, had given warning of an impending return to the winners’ enclosure when he started the 2011 season by finishing runner up in the Handa Australian Senior Open and tied fifth in the Handa Cup Senior Masters in Japan to lead the European Senior Tour Order of Merit.