Miyu Yamashita of Japan shot a final-round 65, then made a birdie putt on the first playoff hole, to come from eight strokes behind to win the Maybank Championship in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Sunday.
Entering play on Sunday, Hye-Jin Choi of South Korea was in control of the tournament, a three-round leader with a four-shot advantage. Choi was seeking her first tournament win.
But she turned in a round of 73 as Yamashita ran off seven birdies. Hannah Green of Australia shot a four-under 68 to join Yamashita and Choi in the playoff at 18-under 270 for the tournament.
Yamashita’s birdie in the playoff on the par-5 No. 18 hole gave her the win — her second of her rookie season — which she chalked up to extra practice after her round of 69 on Saturday.
“So my putting was solid and I could make many birdies,” the 24-year-old said. “Since (Saturday) my shots were not good, and after the third round, I just practice a lot and then I could make it, so I’m very happy about it.”
It was the second time in the three-year history of the Maybank Championship that the tournament was decided by a playoff.
Choi could muster only two birdies on a three-bogey day after setting 36- and 54-hole tournament scoring records in Malaysia after posting cumulative scores of 130 and 197. She and Green were unavailable for comment.
Choi has nine top-10 finishes on the season and was second to Carlota Ciganda at the Meijer LPGA Classic in June.
World No. 1 Jeeno Thitikul of Thailand fired a 68 to end in a five-way tie for fourth at 17-under, one shot off the lead. Joining her were South Koreans A Lim Kim (68) and Sei Young Kim (66), Japan’s Akie Iwai (67) and Yan Liu (70) of China.
“To be honest, I’m not really confident with my putter coming in this week,” Thitikul said. “Like last week I can’t make any putts, so ending up here, like in Top 10 being Top 5 … I am really happy about how I fought with myself out there.”
Liu also was happy with her performance.
“Overall good week for, I think, more confidence coming from my everything. Yeah, and my mental and my game,” she said. “I think it’s more confidence for next couple weeks.”
