Miyu Yamashita Holds Off Yan Liu to Defend Maybank Championship Title

• Miyu Yamashita won the Maybank Championship by two strokes.
• Yan Liu finished second after a closing 68.
• Pauline Roussin-Bouchard and amateur Marisa Tojai tied for third.

Miyu Yamashita successfully defended her Maybank Championship title. The Japanese star closed with a 4-under 68 at Kuala Lumpur Golf & Country Club on Sunday and finished two strokes clear of China’s Yan Liu on 22-under 266.

Yamashita took a two-shot lead into the final round and had led since Friday. Her card had five birdies and one bogey, at the par-4 9th. She hit 12 of 14 fairways and 17 of 18 greens and took 31 putts. Her total was four shots better than her winning score here last year, when she needed a three-way playoff.

It is the first title defence of her LPGA career and her third win of 2026, after a playoff victory at the Meijer LPGA Classic in June and a nine-shot win at the CPKC Women’s Open in August. She has five LPGA titles in 45 starts, the fastest of any Japanese player. She is also the fastest Japanese player to reach $3 million in official earnings in a season. This was her 15th top-10 of the year.

She has converted every 54-hole lead she has held on the LPGA Tour. The other two came at the 2025 AIG Women’s Open and this year’s CPKC Women’s Open.

“So today was an especially hard round for me, and I think Yan Liu was playing really well and making birdies from early in the round, but I’m glad I was able to stay focused and I was able to play with a good level of nervous energy and stay focused throughout the round,” said Yamashita.

Who finished behind her?

Liu followed Saturday’s 63 with a 68 that included an eagle at the 5th. She could not close the gap. Her 268 is her lowest 72-hole score on the LPGA Tour by one stroke. It is also her first runner-up finish, bettering a tie for third at the Meijer in June.

Roussin-Bouchard, who led after the first round, shot 69 for her fourth straight round in the 60s. The Frenchwoman matched her lowest 72-hole total on the LPGA Tour and earned her second tie for third this season, after the HSBC Women’s World Championship in February. She is projected to climb from 79th to 58th in the Race to the CME Globe.

She shared third place with Thailand’s Marisa Tojai, who closed with a 67. The 17-year-old was making her first LPGA Tour appearance and was the youngest player in the field. She came through the ASEAN Qualifier. Her finish is the best by an amateur at this event, beating the tie for 12th by Mirabel Ting in 2024.

Australia’s Robyn Choi shot 69 to finish fifth on 17-under.

Ting was the leading Malaysian. She topped the Epson Tour points list this season and has LPGA status for 2027. Her compatriot Kelly Tan, has announced her retirement.

“I’m not going to compete that much anymore. I might peek my head out once or twice every year. I have a big passion to grow the game.”

The LPGA’s four-week Asian swing ends next week with the Toto Japan Classic at Omitama, outside Tokyo.

Related: Casandra Alexander Wins Wistron Ladies Open and Seals LET Order of Merit

A bogey-free closing 64 at Sunrise gave the South African a three-shot win over Hannah Screen and an unassailable lead at the top of the Ladies European Tour standings with two events still to play.

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