Phatlum Pornanong survived a scare from defending champ Teresa Lu (盧曉晴) to finish with a 1-under 71, three-round total of 210 to secure her second Hitachi Ladies Classic win, beating runner-up and her Thai compatriot Kongkraphan Patcharajutar by 2 stroke. Lu, who hit the lowest round today of 68, was at a point with just one shot to match Pornanong but fell short at the closing holes and tied with Phoebe Yao (姚宣榆) for third at 213.

In what’s called a “mind game” of round at the Orient Golf & Country Club by her own words, it was not a smooth sail at all for Pornanong, who went off to the first tee with a seemingly comfortable 3-shot lead, as she had to face some stern challenges from Patcharajutar and Lu, the latter ran just one shot after her, birdying the par-5 No.10, with only eight holes to go.

However, the no.55 on the LPGA Official Money List refused to give in as she shut the door with the same effort on 10, followed by another two birdies on 12 and 15.

“Thanks to my brother who was my caddie this week. It’s always nice to have a family around, which really just made me feel more relaxed especially under this high tension,” said Pornanong.

“The weather was great. The greens were a little trickier than I last played but overall in very good conditions. It feels amazing to be winning here twice,” said Pornanong. “And the money is bigger as well!” Hitachi Ladies Classic provides the champion a prize money of NT$2.5 million, richest in its 5-year history.

Lu trailed six shots before final round began but quickly put herself into contention with three birdies on the first four holes. Her front-nine ends on a high note with 33 but she was not able to maintain her level of play and the 35 on the back-nine just wasn’t strong enough.

Cheng Shi-Chia (程思嘉) hit 70 today with total of 222 and finished the best among the amateurs after a one-hole play-off over Peng Chieh (彭婕). Cheng went 2-2 already this year as she was also the top-finishing amateur at last week’s season opening TLPGA&Royal Open.