AIG Women’s Open winner Miyu Yamashita has won the LPGA’s Maybank Championship in a three-way play-off in Malaysia.
The 24-year-old Japanese player sealed her second career title in only her first full year on the tour 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.
Yamashita carded the day’s equal lowest round of 65 to swiftly climb up a congested leaderboard to 18-under at the Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country club course.
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Miyu Yamashita was surrounded by her fellow Japanese players as they celebrated her two-shot victory at the AIG Women’s Open.
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.
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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.
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Yamashita triumphed in a three-way play-off for the title
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 Ruoning Yin shot 70 for a 12th-place finish at 14-under, four strokes behind.
Next week, the LPGA Tour ends its five-week Asian swing with the Toto Japan Classic at Shiga.