Japan's Yamashita wins second LPGA crown after playoff drama

Japan's Miyu Yamashita produced a stunning final round to clinch the Maybank Championship on a playoff after she overturned an eight-shot deficit in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday.

The 24-year-old won her second LPGA Tour title in three months after turning in a flawless 65 in her final round, with her eighth birdie in the first play-off hole sealing the win over Australian Hannah Green and South Korea's Choi Hye-jin.

At a rain-interrupted Kuala Lumpur Golf & Country Club, all three golfers were tied for 18-under-par 270, which took the action into extra time.

With the stakes high, Yamashita -- who is in her debut season on the LPGA Tour -- kept her composure to sink a clutch putt.

Overnight leader Choi, who led from the first round and came into Sunday's showdown with a four-stroke advantage, saw her lead evaporate midway through the round.

Despite sinking a birdie on the eighth hole for a three-shot lead, Choi's momentum sputtered after she committed three bogeys in the next four holes.

Choi’s slip paved the way for Yamashita to share the lead with Green when the Japanese fired in a close-range seventh birdie on the 16th hole.

Play was suspended for an hour because of dangerous weather conditions, with Green and Yamashita holding on to a one-shot advantage.

Choi stormed back into contention with her second birdie, on the 16th hole, enough to force a three-way playoff, before another rain stoppage.

The Maybank Championship is one of the most lucrative events on the Asian swing with a prize purse of $3 million.