Three birdies in her final seven holes saw Stephanie Meadow climb into the top 20 at the Maybank Malaysia Open in Kuala Lumpur, while Celine Boutier survived a marathon playoff to take LPGA win number six.
Rounds of 69, 70 and 69 on days one, two and three respectively saw her enter the final round alongside Leona Maguire in a tie for 21st and after trading a bogey at two and a birdie at three, she’d reel off eight consecutive pars before birdieing the 12th to get into red figures for the first time in the round.
She’d back that up with another at 13, both par-4s, but another bogey came at 15 before she closed out the week with a birdie-four at the 72nd hole, climbing into a share of 20th place and moving up one position in the Race to CME Globe rankings to 66th with the top 60 qualifying for the $7 million season-ending event.
Maguire began her round in strong fashion and birdies at two and six saw her move to -10 early and she was eyeing a late run to squeeze her way into the top 10. Bogeys at eight, 15 and 17 put paid to any hopes of that, but, like Meadow, she’d sign off with a birdie at the last, ending the week tied for 34th.
54-hole leader Rose Zhang could only manage a one-under 71 to post -19, and saw playing partner Atthaya Thitikul overtake her with a 67 to reach -21, a total earlier posted by the fast-finishing Celine Boutier who shot a blistering, bogey-free, eight-under 64 and the duo would head for a playoff.
Four visits to 18 and three to the 15th were unable to provide a winner and when Thitikul wedged to two-feet at the eighth playoff hole, it looked like one of the longest playoff sagas in memory was about to end. Boutier had other ideas, however, matching Thitikul’s approach and both sank their birdie putts to send us on to the ninth playoff hole.
The record number for an LPGA playoff came in 1972 when Jo Ann Prentice survived a 10-hole duel with Sandra Palmer, and when both players hit six irons to inside 10 feet at the par-3 15th, that record looked set to be tied. Thitikul’s putt drifted wide, however, leaving Boutier a six-footer for the win and she breathed a sigh of relief as it dropped, deadweight, in the front door.
“I’m just delighted it’s over, to be honest,” Boutier said afterwards.
Leave a comment