WASHINGTON (AFP) — Ally Ewing made five consecutive birdies on the back nine on Sunday and held off China's Lin Xiyu to win the Queen City Championship for her third career LPGA title.
The 29-year-old American fired a bogey-free final-round six-under par 66 to finish on 22-under 266 at a rain-softened Kenwood Country Club in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Meanwhile, Yuka Saso and Dottie Ardina broke par in the final round to wrap up their uneventful bids.
Saso, the 20-year-old Filipino-Japanese, made four birdies against a single bogey to complete 72 holes on 5-under 283, good for a share of 33rd place.
The 28-year-old Ardina, on the other hand, closed with back-to-back bogeys to settle for 71 and 285 total that placed her in joint 42nd.
Lin birdied four of the last seven holes in shooting 65 and kept the pressure on Ewing to the final hole before losing by a stroke.
Ewing birdied the 12th through 16th holes to seize a two-stroke edge then matched pars with Lin at 17.
Short of the green at 18, Ewing missed her first green in regulation of the day while Lin gave herself a birdie
15-foot putt.
Ewing rolled a putt within three feet of the hole, but Lin answered by curling in her third birdie putt of the week at 18, only for Ewing to tap in for par and the victory, a smile and fist pump followed by tears of joy.
"I struggled with nerves all day because I just haven't been able to put this all together for a full tournament this year," Ewing said. "So to see it and see all the results finally come into place, it's really exciting."
World No. 52 Ewing, who had not previously managed a top-10 finish all season, cracked $3 million in career earnings.
Ewing won for the third season in a row after taking the 2020 Drive On Championship at Lake Oconee and 2021 LPGA Match Play.
"The key for me has been just knowing it's in there," Ewing said.
"In Canada (two weeks ago), I was really close to putting some stuff together but it was a little finicky."
"This week I saw putts go in and once I saw them go in I had that confidence."
Mexico's Maria Fassi was third on 272 after a closing 71 with South Korean Lee6 Jeong-eun fourth on 274.
