KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — In fading mild and with one other thunderstorm approaching, Celine Boutier made a birdie on the ninth playoff gap to defeat Atthaya Thitikul and win the Maybank Championship on the LPGA Tour on Sunday.
In a marathon playoff, each gamers made close to an identical photographs on a number of holes and noticed potential successful putts lip out as they stayed tied by eight tense holes, which included sitting out a 90-minute storm delay on the Kuala Lumpur Golf and Nation Membership course.
On the ninth playoff gap on the par-3 fifteenth, the Thai participant narrowly missed her birdie putt opening the door for Boutier, who confirmed no nerves in touchdown her 6-foot putt to clinch her fourth title of the season, together with wins on the Girls’s Scottish Open and the Evian Championship for her first main title.
Each Boutier and Thitikul completed on 21-under 267 after 72 regulation holes.
Boutier shot an 8-under 64 with eight birdies, which might have been 9 had her birdie putt on the 18th not lipped out. Had that gone within the Frenchwoman would have held a two-shot clubhouse lead over Thitikul, however the Thai participant made birdie on the ultimate gap for a 68 to power what grew to become a prolonged playoff in sizzling, humid situations in Malaysia.
“I didn’t count on it to be that lengthy, to be sincere,” Boutier stated of the playoff. “I felt like we have been each very near successful a number of occasions, and I simply felt like we simply needed to make a birdie basically. I knew she wasn’t going to make a mistake, so I needed to go for it and provides myself the very best probabilities for birdies.”
American Rose Zhang, who had a one-stroke lead going into the ultimate spherical, shot a 71 to complete at 19 underneath, two photographs behind the leaders in a tie for third with Thai participant Jasmine Suwannapura (70).
Chien Peiyun (68) of Taiwan was fifth at 18-under 270. American Nelly Korda and Canadian Brooke Henderson each shot 66 to complete 17 underneath in a tie for sixth.
The Maybank Championship was the third of 4 LPGA occasions on the tour’s Asian swing. Minjee Lee of Australia gained final week’s cease in South Korea in a playoff. The ultimate event is subsequent week’s Toto Basic in Japan.
