Celine Boutier won the inaugural Maybank Championship, beating Thailand’s Atthaya Thitikul in a nine-hole play-off on Sunday.
Boutier sunk a birdie to secure victory in the joint-second longest sudden-death match-up in LPGA history.
“This year has definitely been unbelievable for me,” she said.
The 29-year-old’s success in Kuala Lumpur sealed a sixth career tour title, also becoming the first player to win four tournaments this year.
“I couldn’t be happier with the way this season is going,” added Boutier. “Here, I felt we were both close to winning a few times, and I just felt like we had to make a birdie essentially.”
Both players finished on 21-under par with scores of 267 from 72 holes. Frenchwoman Boutier hit a final round 64, only for her 20-year-old Thai opponent to finish on a birdie for 68, forcing the play-off.
The dramatic conclusion, which matched the number of holes at the 2012 Kingsmill Championship – the record is 10 at the 1972 Corpus Christi Civitan Open – was also delayed for 90 minutes due to rain.
Neither player could be split, each making pars on six of the first eight holes with birdies on the other two, before Thitikul squandered her birdie chance on the ninth, opening the door for Boutier’s victory.
