World No. 4 Miyu Yamashita was celebrating after another victory, but this was after something the Japanese star hadn’t done before—she successfully defended a title to win the Maybank Championship.
Yamashita drained an eight-foot birdie putt on the last hole and shot a final-round 68 to win at the Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club in Malaysia. She won by two shots over China’s Yan Liu, who played in the final group for the first time in her career.
“I'm just really happy to have won the title, and I honestly didn't expect to be able to win this tournament two years in a row,” Yamashita said. “I just focused on playing all four days.”
Yamashita, who had just one bogey on Sunday, has taken the LPGA by storm and won for the third time this season, and fifth time in the last 15 months. She won $450,000 from the $3 million purse and now has $6.77 million in career earnings.
Last year, Yamashita came back from eight strokes back to win this event in a three-way playoff. This year, she had the 36-hole lead and never lost it. She had a two-shot lead with two holes to go and finished the job.
Yong Teck Lim
She shot 65-66-67-68 to win at 22-under 266. Liu shot a final-round 68 and kept the pressure on Yamashita.
“[Sunday] was an especially hard round for me, and I think Yan Liu was playing really well and making birdies from early in the round,” Yamashita said. “I'm glad I was able to stay focused and I was able to play with a good level of nervous energy and stay focused throughout the round.”
Timing is everything, and now Yamashita returns to her home country, where she’ll play in the Toto Japan Classic.
“I'm really looking forward to going back to Japan next week and then playing in front of all the Japanese fans,” Yamashita said. “The Toto course is different, rather than like last year, so it's a little bit tricky. There are so many nice Japanese players out there, so next week I will do my best.”
She’s right. The 25-year-old Yamashita s one of many young Japanese stars on tour but she’s the fastest to five tour wins.
“It's been really great seeing so many Japanese players doing so well again this year,” Yamashita said. “It's really motivating for me as well. And Yuri has been playing some great golf, too.”
Yamashita is one of the shorter hitters on tour, but she just keeps on winning. Her first career win was a major at last year’s AIG Women’s British Open. She’s ranked 138th with an average of 252.62 yards, 35.93 yards behind Riley Smyth, the longest hitter.
It’s no matter because she is terrific with her irons and short game. She hit 12 of 14 fairways Sunday (and 49 of 56 all week) and 17 of 18 greens in regulation. Her 31 putts on Sunday were the most all tournament after just 24 putts in the opening-round 65 that got her defense started on a great note.
Frenchwoman Pauline Roussin-Bouchard, who took the first-round lead after opening with a 64, finished tied for third, three shots back.