Mike Cunning, 45, of the United States won the $300,000 Royal Challenge Indian Open golf championship with a record 18-under 270 at the Delhi Golf Club on Sunday.

It was his maiden victory on the Asian PGA Tour.

The runner-up, Rick Gibson of Canada, also the second best in the previous edition, was five strokes behind at 205.

The Indian challenge fizzled out with current Asian Order Of Merit leader and overnight sole leader Jyoti Randhawa finishing a joint sixth along with Arjun Atwal at 10-under 278.

Coming into the final round with 10-under, Cunning got off to a great start -- three birdies in a row. He finished with three birdies on the 13th, 14th and 15th and another two on the 17th and the 18^th to card an amazing final day score of eight-under 64.

Cunning dropped two shots on the front nine but his scores on the back nine were great.

"So many time I have entered a Sunday with good scores behind me but walked off without the title. But today was one of those days when I actually did win," said Cunning who pocketed the winner's cheque of Rs 24,50,000.

Gibson said he was  "not really disappointed", but "it does leave an empty feeling as everyone wants the title at the end of the day".

"I could have made a few more putts, but then anybody can say that," the Canadian said.

Australia's Adam Groom (276) and South African James Kingston finished tied on the third place while Zaw Moe of Myanmar, who set a course record with a nine-under card on the opening day, had to be content with the fifth place with a four-round aggregate of 277.

Kingston had an amazing albatross on the 8th hole, as he shot into lead along with Cunning at 14-under, but he went birdie-less on the remaining 10 holes.

This was Kingston's third albatross in three years, a marvellous record by any standards.

"I used a driver for my tee shot and a six iron for the second which pitched 15 feet short, rolled up, stopped at the lip and dropped in," Kingston (69) said.

"I knew I was in the lead after the albatross but could not convert it into an advantage," he said.

The DGC course is treacherous, and the golfers learnt this all over again on Sunday.

The Indian golfers have literally been nursed on this course, but still find it difficult to negotiate. With Vijay Kumar winning the coveted title last year and the big two -- Randhawa and Atwal -- showing ample promise, it was felt an Indian would win the country's most prestigious event.

Randhawa made an ominous prediction on Saturday after he finished with the third round one stroke ahead. "One hole can change the whole scenario," he said.

It was true, as he found himself trailing Cunning by a big four-stroke margin at the eighth when he dropped his second shot on the front nine. It was virtually all over for him after he had bogeys on the 10th and 11th to finish at 74.