PORTHCAWL, Wales — On a blustery day in southern Wales, it was Japanese rookie Miyu Yamashita who hoisted the AIG Women’s Open trophy, winning by two shots over Charley Hull and Minami Katsu at Royal Porthcawl Golf Club in the year’s fifth and final major championship.

The Olympian finished with a four-day total of 11-under to pick up both her first career LPGA Tour victory and first major title after posting a 2-under 70 in the final round. She is the second athlete from Japan to win a major tournament this season alongside Mao Saigo, who won The Chevron Championship in April.

Yamashita began day four with a one-stroke lead over Korean major champion A Lim Kim at 9-under total, having come back to the field a bit after carding a 2-over 74 on Saturday, which was also her 24th birthday. And with Hull making a charge in front of a raucous and emphatic local gallery just a couple of groups ahead of her, it was going to take nerves of steel from Yamashita to hang onto the lead and emerge victorious from a crowded leaderboard on Sunday.

She got off to quite a steady start with three pars on her first three holes, knocking down a midrange birdie putt on the par-4 4th hole to climb to 10-under and extend her advantage to two. Yamashita parred her next three holes and then threw a one-two punch of birdies at Porthcawl on the par-3 8th and par-5 9th holes to zip to 12-under, now leading by three shots over Englishwoman Hull with nine holes to play.

The rookie remained unflinching as she made her way around the back nine in Wales, even keeping a level head when Hull moved within one shot of the lead after making birdies on the 12th and 14th holes.

The closest Yamashita came to dropping a shot throughout the first seven holes of her closing stretch was on the par-5 13th hole when she drove it in the bunker, splashed out, sent her third sailing long of the green on the par 5 and left her fourth shot roughly 20 feet short. But with the frostiest of ice in her veins, the 24-year-old buried her par putt to remain at 12-under and one ahead of Hull with five holes to go.

Two-time LPGA Tour winner Hull then stumbled late, making back-to-back bogeys on 16 and 17 to slip to 9-under, three behind Yamashita coming to the last and ultimately tying for second when she couldn’t manage a closing birdie at Royal Porthcawl.

Coming down the stretch, Yamashita made three straight-forward pars on 14, 15 and 16 before dropping her first and only shot of the final round with a bogey on 17, now at 11-under and holding a two-shot lead heading to the last tee. And ultimately, all the rookie needed was a par on the last hole to polish off the victory and become the fourth athlete from Japan to win a major title over the last two seasons, joining Ayaka Furue, Mao Saigo and Yuka Saso.

“This was a goal of mine from a very young age to win a major championship, and to be able to do that is a very satisfying feeling, very special,” said Yamashita via translation in her winning press conference. “This has been a goal of mine, something I've worked towards my whole life, a dream you could say. It's been the result of hard work every single day, making changes, making improvements, and to be able to do it now and call myself a champion is a very special thing.”

Miyu Yamashita Wins AIG Women’s Open to Become Rolex First-Time Winner

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