KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Women’s Open winner Miyu Yamashita of Japan has won the LPGA’s Maybank Championship in a three-way playoff Sunday for her second career title in only her first full year on the tour.
The 24-year-old golfer sealed victory with a birdie on the first playoff hole, while three-round leader Hye-Jin Choi of South Korea and Australia’s Hannah Green could only manage pars. The win adds the Maybank title to Yamashita’s maiden major triumph in August.
The Japanese player carded the day’s equal lowest round of 65 to swiftly climb up a congested leaderboard to 18-under 270 at the Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country club course.
Choi, who began the final round with a four-stroke lead, struggled to convert key putts as her advantage slipped away.
The 26-year-old Choi now has 29 career top-10 finishes, but is yet to find her breakthrough win on the tour. It’s also the third time she has led a tournament heading into the final round and finished runner-up.
Green, a member of the winning Australia team at the International Crown last weekend, shot a streaky 68 – with seven birdies and three bogies – which included a nerveless birdie at the last to join Choi and Yamashita in the playoff.
World No. 1 Jeeno Thitikul (68), China’s Liu Yan (65), Akie Iwai (67) of Japan and South Korean pair A Lim Kim (68) and Kim Sei-Young (66) were all tied for fourth-place at 17 under, one shot behind the leading trio.
Thitikul, a runner-up in Malaysia the last two years, had a bogey on the 16th that ended the Thai player’s late charge for a breakthrough win in Kuala Lumpur.
Earlier, an hour-long delay because of rain after the leaders had made the turn added to the tension on a congested leaderboard. When play resumed, Choi found her way back into contention with a clutch birdie at the par-4 16th that had just enough pace to drop in.
Green then joined Choi and Yamashita in the playoff before another rain shower delayed the playoff for more than 30 minutes.
Defending champion Yin Ruoning shot 70 for a 12th-place finish at 14-under 274, four strokes behind.
Brooke Henderson also shot 70 and was tied for 27th.
Next week, the LPGA ends its five-week Asian swing with the Japan Classic at Shiga.
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