After a tense afternoon at the Laguna National Golf and Country Club the 28-year-old Chinese player claimed top spot in the event, which is jointly sanctioned by the European and Asian Tours.

He edged out Steel in the first hole of a play-off that Dyson missed out on by a single stroke.

The York-born player started the day on nine under but, after picking up two shots to move into contention, he failed to hole a four-foot putt to drop a shot on the 16th and spurned a birdie chance on the last green.

That left Steel and Liang level at the top and Dyson had to watch as Steel teed off into the water on his way to a double bogey - allowing Liang to claim the title with par.

Dyson said: "I should have won, I should have won," the 29-year-old lamented.

"You just need a bit of luck to win tournaments and I am just not getting any. I didn't have any in Malaysia and I haven't had any today.

"I managed to scramble it brilliantly but then when I was hitting good shots I wasn't getting the rewards."

Liang held his nerve to become only the second player from China to win an event on the European Tour, following in the footsteps of Zhang Lian-Wei, who won the same event on the same course in 2003.

The victory delighted the Zhongshan native, who showed his mental resilience by recovering from a double bogey at the par-five 15th to finish with a one-over-par round of 73. That left him on an 11-under-par total of 277.

"I'm very happy and very relaxed. It is a great result for me," said Liang, who intends to donate all of his prize money to golf development programmes in China.

"I didn't play well on the 15th but I never gave up. I birdied the next hole and I managed to come through with the victory at the end."

Steel had appeared to be on course for victory earlier after picking up his fifth birdie of the day to move to 13 under with three holes to play.

However, the Malaysian double-bogeyed the 16th after missing a bogey putt from two feet to finish with a 71.

"I hit a tree out of the right rough and then misjudged the chip and three-putted from there," said Steel of his misadventures at the 16th.

"That was pretty much the story but I had another chance to win at the play-off. I was quite confident and had a picture in my mind off the tee. But I just didn't execute, simple as that.

"I pictured it going out to the right and drawing back in to the fairway but I just came over the top and pulled it in the water."

Nick Dougherty, looked to be in good shape for a second Singapore Masters title in three years when he holed consecutive birdies at the 14th and 15th, but back-to-back double bogeys at the next two holes saw him finish tied for fourth on nine under with English compatriots Anthony Wall (67) and David Lynn (69) and Jean Van de Velde of France (68).

Craig Smith of Wales closed with a 67 to finish tied for eighth on eight under with Jyoti Randhawa of India (75), Scott Barr of Australia (70), Lin Keng-chi of Chinese Taipei (70) and Australia's Terry Pilkadaris (72).

Cumbrian player Gary Lockerbie, who held the joint overnight lead with Liang, saw his challenge fade after starting badly with a series of bogeys on the front nine as he carded an 80 to finish on a four-under 284, seven shots off the pace.

ALL THE FINAL ROUND SCORES

(Gbr & Irl unless stated, par 72):

277 Iain Steel (Myn) 70 65 71 71, Wen-chong Liang (Chn) 64 72 68 73 (Won at 1st extra hole)

278 Simon Dyson 71 69 67 71

279 Anthony Wall 68 72 72 67, Nick Dougherty 70 72 66 71, Jean Van de Velde (Fra) 68 71 71 69, David Lynn 72 68 70 69

280 Craig Smith 72 70 71 67, Scott Barr (Aus) 70 69 71 70, Peter Lawrie 66 70 70 74, Terry Pilkadaris (Aus) 69 72 67 72, Jyoti Randhawa (Ind) 65 68 72 75, Keng-chi Lin (Tai) 73 68 69 70

281 Francesco Molinari (Ita) 69 70 70 72, Scott Strange (Aus) 69 73 70 69, Chinarat Phadungsil (Tha) 69 71 71 70, Peter Senior (Aus) 70 70 73 68, Thongchai Jaidee (Tha) 69 69 69 74, Peter O'Malley (Aus) 71 70 69 71

282 Joakim Backstrom (Swe) 73 69 69 71, Robert Rock 71 70 68 73, Oliver Wilson 69 72 70 71, Martin Kaymer (Ger) 66 73 71 72

283 Robert Jan Derksen (Ned) 73 69 72 69, Hendrik Buhrmann (Rsa) 71 69 71 72, Marcus Both (Aus) 72 69 72 70, Andrew Coltart 69 69 72 73, Matthew Zions (Aus) 68 71 73 71, Mardan Mamat (Sin) 68 73 70 72

284 Gary Lockerbie 68 67 69 80, Gary Orr 71 71 69 73, Prom Meesawat (Tha) 71 71 70 72, Tony Lascuna (Phi) 69 72 71 72, Chawalit Plaphol (Tha) 75 67 72 70, Shingo Katayama (Jpn) 65 76 70 73, Graeme Storm 66 74 72 72

285 Gary Simpson (Aus) 69 72 72 72, Barry Hume 65 69 76 75

286 Rahil Gangjee (Ind) 72 68 77 69, Gerald Rosales (Phi) 72 69 72 73, Ariel Canete (Arg) 70 72 73 71, Mark Foster 76 65 71 74, Brad Kennedy (Aus) 68 74 72 72, Marcus Fraser (Aus) 64 73 74 75, Lee Sung (Kor) 69 72 72 73

287 Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind) 69 73 70 75, Mark Pilkington 72 67 73 75, Steve Webster 71 69 73 74, Wei Chih Lu (Tha) 70 72 75 70, Stephen Dodd 69 73 69 76, Ross Fisher 74 66 73 74, Jong Yul Suk (Kor) 69 73 69 76

288 Scott Hend (Aus) 71 70 74 73, Carlos Rodiles (Spa) 71 70 72 75

289 Richard Bland 72 67 73 77, Frankie Minoza (Phi) 69 71 71 78, Gaurav Ghei (Ind) 68 70 77 74, Wen-Tang Lin (Tai) 69 70 77 73, Mark Brown (USA) 66 73 76 74, Ross Bain 69 70 73 77, Simon Khan 69 70 77 73, Jean-Francois Lucquin (Fra) 69 70 76 74

290 Brett Rumford (Aus) 68 74 77 71, Adam Groom (Aus) 70 72 72 76, Adam Blyth (Aus) 67 73 74 76

291 Angelo Que (Phi) 66 73 80 72

292 David Griffiths 74 68 74 76, Simon Yates 68 73 75 76

293 David Carter 74 66 72 81

294 Shaun P Webster 69 73 79 73

295 Phillip Price 69 71 70 85