Shiho Kuwaki snatched a dramatic play-off victory over Esther Henseleit after an extraordinary finish to the AIG Women’s Open, as Charley Hull and Lottie Woad fell short on the final day.
Henseleit holed a remarkable 45-foot birdie on the final hole at Royal Lytham & St Annes to move to five under alongside Kuwaki, who also posted a one-under 70 and overturned a three-shot deficit during an eventful Sunday.
The two players returned to the par-four 18th for the sudden-death play-off, where Kuwaki scrambled an unlikely par after an errant drive as Henseleit missed a 10-foot birdie putt for victory.
Henseleit's tee shot on the second extra hole hit a marshal's ankle and finished in a bush, leaving her hacking back into the fairway on her way to a bogey, as Kuwaki two-putted for par to become Japan's second successive AIG Women's Open champion.
Yealimi Noh took a three-shot lead into the final round and briefly went four clear, only to card three bogeys in a five-hole stretch on her front nine and eventually finish third ahead of Nelly Korda and Jeeno Thitikul.
Hull and Woad finished four strokes back in tied-sixth after both failed to mount a late challenge for a home victory, while Haeran Ryu - chasing a third consecutive major title - also ended the week on one under.
Kuwaki was among the contingent starting tied-second and quickly closed with a birdie at the second, but lost ground with successive bogeys from the fourth as Noh extended her overnight advantage.
Noh produced a sensational up and down to save par at the first and birdied the next, with the American four ahead - as the chasing pack frittered away shots - despite dropping a shot at the par-four fourth.
Henseleit dropped a shot at the third but birdied the sixth to remain three back, as Noh's advantage quickly reduced when she posted successive bogeys from the seventh to stutter to the turn in 37.
Kuwaki closed her front nine with a birdie-two to get within one of Noh, with Henseleit a further two shots back after back-to-back bogeys from the eighth, before the lead changed hands on multiple occasions during a dramatic back nine.
Noh fell one behind when she bogeyed the 12th as Kuwaki - playing two groups ahead - birdied the driveable 13th, as Henseleit posted back-to-back birdies from the 11th to get back within one of the lead.
Kuwaki regained her outright advantage when Noh cancelled out a birdie at the 13th with a dropped shot at the next, but Henseleit pulled level when she almost holed her approach into the par-four 15th and made a close-range birdie.
Henseleit three-putted from the front of the 16th green for a bogey to fall one behind, as Kuwaki closed out her round in pars to set the clubhouse target, only to deliver the tournament's first play-off in four years with her remarkable 72nd-hole birdie.
Kuwaki delivered a sensational up and down from the middle of the fairway to match Henseleit's par on the opening play-off hole, with a par then enough on the next hole to claim the $1.5m (ÂŁ1.1m) first prize and the biggest win of her career.
"I just can't believe it," Kuwaki said, speaking through an interpreter. "To be on a stage like this is just an honour.
"Every hole I was just focused on shot by shot, and just tried to enjoy it out there as much as I could. After [Miyu] Yamashita's win last year, to be able to win again as a Japanese player is such an amazing feeling."
The Ladies European Tour stays in England for the PIF London Championship, beginning Thursday at the Centurion Club, while the LPGA Tour takes a week off before the Standard Portland Classic from August 13-16. or .
