Jeeno Thitikul overcame a four-stroke deficit with five holes to play, then outlasted Minami Katsu in a five-hole playoff to win the LPGA Shanghai tournament, while Leona Maguire finished tied for 54th on Sunday.
The world's top-ranked golfer, Thitikul bested the overnight leader in the playoff to become a six-time LPGA Tour winner and the first two-time tournament winner of the season.
Thitikul, of Thailand, collected an eagle and seven birdies to highlight a round of nine-under-par 63 to finish the tournament at 24 under.The 22-year-old rolled in birdie putts on holes 14 to 16, before bouncing in an eagle on the 17th of Qizhong Garden Golf Club to draw even with Katsu, who shot a bogey-free 65.
Katsu narrowly missed birdie putts on two of her first four playoff holes before Thitikul sent an approach that landed three feet away from the cup on the fifth playoff hole, contested at the par-4 18th. Thitikul tapped it in to pocket the first-prize purse of $330,000 (€284,030) and record her first win since the Mizuho Americas Open in May.
It also helped take some of the sting away from her four-putt fiasco on the final hole at the Kroger Queen City Championship in Cincinnati last month.
"Definitely cried a lot. Not going lie, cried quite a lot," Thitikul said.
"I just kept (telling) myself, whatever is happening in dramatic events, not just Cincinnati, but in this year, I just told myself that I need to earn it by myself."
American Jenny Bae (69) tied for fourth place with Miyu Yamashita (67) of Japan and South Korea's Somi Lee (69) at 17 under.
Defending champion Ruoning Yin of China ended up in a tie for 26th place after her final round of 68. She was making her first start since the AIG Women's Open in August.
Meanwhile, Maguire carded a level-par 72 on Sunday to finish on three under overall with the Cavan native 12 strokes outside the top 10.
