The Japanese golfer Miyu Yamashita claimed victory at the Maybank Championship this Sunday after defeating Korean Hye Jin Choi and Australian Hannah Green in the first playoff hole. All three had finished the 72 regular holes of the tournament tied at -18.
Yamashita was riding a wave of success, having delivered an impressive 65-stroke card this Sunday, cutting no less than eight strokes off Choi. This positive momentum allowed her to win the tournament with a birdie on the 18th hole, the first of the playoff.
It is her second victory of the season after winning the AIG Women’s Championship, one of the five Majors of the season. An impressive rookie season for the 24-year-old Japanese golfer. She is competing for victory in the Race to CME Globe. Only she and Thitikul, the World Number One, have won more than once this year on the LPGA Tour. She is ranked Number 6 in the world, although we will see where she stands after this triumph. The ranking is usually updated on Tuesdays.
Yamashita has stolen breakfast from Hye Jin Choi. The Korean intended to end this week with that strange victory drought that haunts her. The hunger remains intact. There’s no choice but to keep trying. No one doubts that first title will come sooner rather than later, but this week has been a blow, as she dominated the tournament from start to finish, had up to a six-stroke lead, started Sunday with four, and ended up conceding after a poor final round of 73 strokes, over par. Only two other players within the top 30 of the tournament played over par today. Cruel and painful. One must be strong and well-prepared to ensure these Sundays leave no mark. Choi will have to get to work.
Hannah Green, on the other hand, completes a cinematic week. She hasn’t won in Malaysia, but she wraps up seven days in which she won the International Crown with Australia and finished second in Malaysia. Not bad at all. Five golfers finished one stroke away from the playoff, including Jeeno Thitikul herself.
Carlota Ciganda (-12) managed to cap off a great weekend at the Kuala Lumpur Golf & Country Club. She followed up Saturday’s 65-stroke round with a great 68-stroke card today, with six birdies and two bogeys. Once again, her conservative strategy of prioritising fairway hits at a distance worked very well. She finished in a notable 16th position. Despite everything, she drops one spot in the Race to CME Globe and is now 26th.
Julia López (+4) had the opposite weekend to Carlota. No less than 17 strokes difference between them. Today she finished with 76 strokes, at the bottom of the leaderboard, once again heavily burdened by a triple bogey and a double bogey. The major errors prevented the Malaga native from being higher up in the standings.
