With almost no sunlight and another storm coming, the French Celine Boutier made a birdie on the ninth playoff hole to win Thai Atthaya Titikul and win at LPGA Tour Maybank Championship this Sunday in Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia).
In a marathon playoff, both players hit nearly identical shots on several holes and watched potential winning putts slip away as they remained tied for eight tense holes, which included a 90-minute storm delay. at the Kuala Lumpur Golf & Country Club.
On the ninth playoff hole, the 15th, a par 3, the Thai woman barely missed her birdie putt, opening the door for Boutier, who showed no nerves as he held her from 2 meters to earn his fourth title of the season. , including achievements. at the Scottish Open and at the Evian Championship, his first Grand Slam.
Both Boutier and Thitikul finished with 267 strokes, 21 under par, after the regulation 72 holes. The 9-hole playoff tied the record for the second-longest playoff in LPGA Tour history. Boutier shot a 64 on Sunday, with eight birdies without a miss, which would have been nine had her birdie putt not gone wide on 18. Had she gone in, the Frenchwoman would have had a two-stroke home-club lead in Thitikul , but the Thai birdied the final hole for a 68 to force what turned out to be a long playoff in Malaysia’s hot and humid conditions.
American Rose Zhang, with a one-stroke lead entering the final round, shot 71 to finish at 19 under par, two shots off the leaders and tied for third place with lThai Jasmine Suwannapura (70). Taiwanese Chien Peiyun (68) is fifth with 270 (-18). American Nelly Korda and Canadian Brooke Hendersonboth had 66 strokes, finished 17 under par and tied for sixth place.
Boutier is the first player to win at least four times in a season since Korda (4 wins) and Jin Young Ko (5) in 2021.
Thitikul and Boutier were on the second playoff hole when the horn sounded due to lightning strikes in the area. The longest playoff in LPGA Tour history was 10 holes at the Corpus Christi Civitan Open in 1972. The last nine-hole playoff came at the 2012 Kingsmill Championship, where Jiyai Shin of South Korea defeated American Paula Creamer.
The Maybank Championship is the third of four LPGA events on the Asian tour. Australian Minjee Lee won last week in South Korea in a tiebreaker. The final tournament is the Toto Classic in Japan next week.
Source: La Verdad
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