ALOHA! Thitikul plucks 4th LPGA Tour crown in Hawaii

LOS ANGELES (AFP) — Thailand's Jeeno Thitikul bagged her fourth title of the year with a three-shot victory at the LPGA Tour's Lotte Championship in Hawaii on Sunday.

The world No. 2 carded six birdies in a four-under-par 68 to finish on 21 under par at Hoakalei Country Club on Oahu.

South Korea's Yoon In-a was second on 18 under after also finishing with a four-under-par 68.

Thai star Jeeno suffered a scare coming down the stretch with a double-bogey six on the 16th that dropped her to 19 under.

But back-to-back birdies on 17 and 18 restored her cushion and averted the possibility of a play-off.

"I totally have no idea how I did that," Jeeno said of her birdie-birdie finish.

"It was a really good battle with In-a. She played incredible on the front nine.”

"I knew I had to focus on my game. The 16th was terrible, a terrible hole for me. But I just tell myself that it's two holes left and everything can happen."

Japan's Miyu Yamashita finished in third place on 17 under after her final-round 67, one shot ahead of fourth-placed Auston Kim of the United States.

China's Michelle Zhang and Sweden's Maja Stark shared fifth place on 15 under, six off the lead.

Over in the United States, journeyman golfer Austin Smotherman claimed the first PGA Tour victory of his career on Sunday, sealing a two-stroke triumph at the Bank of Utah Championship.

Smotherman, 32, carded a closing three-under-par 68 at the Black Desert Resort in Ivins to finish on 25 under.

That was good enough for the world No. 121 to hold off Doug Ghim in second place, who shot a final-round 69 for a 24 under total.