France’s Celine Boutier made a birdie on the ninth sudden-death playoff hole to beat Thailand’s Atthaya Thitikul and win the LPGA’s Maybank Championship in Malaysia.
In the lengthy overtime, both players saw potential winning putts lip out as they remained deadlocked through eight holes, which included a 90-minute storm delay at the Kuala Lumpur golf course, the former host of the PGA Tour’s CIMB Classic.
At the ninth playoff hole, the par-3 15th, Thitikul narrowly missed a birdie putt, opening the door for Boutier, who drained her 6-foot putt to clinch her fourth LPGA title of the season, which included the Evian Championship, her maiden major.
“I didn’t expect it to be that long, to be honest,” said Boutier. “I felt like we were both very close to winning a few times, and I just felt like we just had to make a birdie essentially.
“I knew she wasn’t going to make a mistake, so I had to go for it and give myself the best chances for birdies.”
American Rose Zhang, who had a one-stroke lead going into the final round, shot a 71 to finish on 19 under, good for T3 alongside Jasmine Suwannapura (70), also of Thailand.
Taiwan’s Chien Peiyun (68) was solo fifth on 18 under, while American Nelly Korda and Canadian Brooke Henderson shot matching 66s to finish T6 on 17 under.
Celine Boutier’s 2023 Wins
- LPGA Drive On Championship (March)
- Evian Championship (July)
- Women’s Scottish Open (August)
- Maybank Championship (October)
LPGA news release was used to produce report.
