KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia » South Korea’s Na Yeon Choi won the LPGA Malaysia on Sunday for her first LPGA Tour victory of the season and fifth in three years, closing with a 3-under 68 to beat top-ranked Yani Tseng by a stroke.
Choi finished at 15-under 269 at Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club and earned $285,000. She birdied the par-3 17th to pull ahead and parred the par-4 18th to hold off Tseng a week after finishing second behind the Taiwanese star in South Korea.
"I took something from last week," Choi said. "I had a great experience from last week. … I did my best last week. … So, I learned something. And then this week, I had a great feeling about my game. I played so well this week."
Choi became only the second South Korean winner on the LPGA Tour this year, joining U.S. Women’s Open champion So Yeon Ryu. The victory also was the 100th LPGA Tour win by players of Korean descent.
"I won my fifth tournament and a hundred times for all of the Korean players," Choi said. "So it’s very nice. Icing on the cake."
Tseng, a six-time LPGA Tour winner this season, parred the final two holes for a 65. She earned $176,791 to push her tour-leading total to $2,563,629.
Spain’s Azahara Munoz closed with a 69 to finish third at 12 under, South Korea’s Se Ri Pak (69) followed at 10 under, and Americans Stacy Lewis (70) and Brittany Lang (73) were 9 under.
Hawaii’s Michelle Wie dropped to a tie for 18th place with a 4-over 75 and took home $22,301.
Crane comes back
Seven shots behind with 11 holes to play, Ben Crane ran off seven birdies to close with a 7-under 63, and then he won the sudden-death playoff at the McGladrey Classic when Webb Simpson missed a short par putt on the second extra hole Sunday.
With his runner-up finish, Simpson moved to the top of the money list by $363,029 over Luke Donald, the No. 1 player in the world ranking. Both players have entered the season-ending tournament next week in Disney, though Donald’s task became a lot more difficult.
At the very least, Donald would have to finish no worse than a two-way tie for second to have any chance to move past Simpson and resume his bid to become the first player to win money titles on the PGA Tour and European Tour. Donald already has a comfortable lead in Europe.
Couples pulls away
Fred Couples ran away with the Champions Tour’s AT&T Championship, shooting a bogey-free 6-under 66 for a seven-stroke victory — the largest margin on the 50-and-over tour this year.
Couples opened with rounds of 65 and 62 and finished at 23 under on TPC San Antonio’s Canyons Course.
Lewis rides birdie run
England’s Tom Lewis rallied to win the Portugal Masters, birdieing five of the last seven holes for a 7-under 65 and a two-stroke victory over Spain’s Rafael Cabrera-Bello.
The 20-year-old Lewis, making his third start as a professional, finished at 21 under at Oceanico Victoria.
Kokrak stays hot
Jason Kokrak won the Miccosukee Championship for his second Nationwide Tour victory in five weeks, closing with a 5-under 66 in rainy conditions to beat Mark Anderson by seven strokes.
Kokrak jumped from 15th to fourth on the money list with $301,592. The top 25 after the final two events of the season will earn 2012 PGA Tour cards.
