Better late than never for tour champ Shi

In an exciting conclusion to the season on Saturday, Shi Yuli won the CLPG Tour Championship by three shots with a dominant performance to claim her maiden title.

Wang Zixuan, meanwhile, topped the money list to earn a full-time playing card for next year's KLPGA Tour season.

Playing on The Vintage course at Mission Hills Resort Haikou in Hainan province amid cool, windy and wet conditions, Shi, who hadn't won since turning pro in 2018, started the day a shot off the lead and came out firing, posting a five-under 67 final round that included seven birdies over the front nine.

The Beijing native, who earned 120,000 yuan ($17,008), finished on 12-under 204 overall. She also won the CLPG Tour points ranking on the strength of six top-10 finishes in 14 events played this season.

"I'm truly overwhelmed with excitement and happiness. In several recent events, I finished just one or two shots short of victory, and that went on for quite a while," said Shi. "Being able to finally win the championship in the last tournament means I've achieved my biggest goal of the season. It also makes me believe that things will keep moving in a positive direction from here."

Hangzhou native Chen Siyan closed with a 68 to finish equal second with amateur Sophie Han, the overnight leader from Hong Kong, China, who shot 71. Wang Zixuan (68) was fourth at four strokes back, receiving 48,000 yuan in the process, enough to pip Shi on the money list and earn her playing card for Korea.

Playing in the final group, Shi made a birdie three on the second hole while Han made a bogey five for a two-shot swing to take the outright lead. It marked the start of five straight birdies, before a bogey five on the 385-yard seventh. Shi quickly rebounded with birdies on the eighth and ninth holes to make the turn at 13-under.

As a cold front arrived in the early afternoon, bringing strong wind, heavy rain and challenging conditions, the 23-year-old navigated the back nine at one-over after dropping a stroke at the 393-yard 14th hole.

"I started the day playing very smoothly from the morning. I didn't think about anything except playing golf, staying as focused as possible on every single shot. The result proved that this approach really worked," said the younger sister of JLPGA Tour regular Shi Yuting.

"I shared the good news with my family right away, but my parents and my sister were even faster — they had already sent me so many congratulatory messages."

Han, who won the Reignwood CLPGA Classic last year in Beijing, was not able to mount a challenge in a final round that included five birdies and four bogeys.

"My driver and putting were solid throughout all three days, but today was a bit disappointing because I didn't create many birdie opportunities early on and made a few mistakes," said the 18-year-old, a freshman on the University of Oregon golf team. "Overall, my performance was decent, but it's a pity that I couldn't produce a standout score on the final day."

The United States-based Chen, a regular on the Epson Tour, earned 72,000 yuan. Her round included five birdies and a bogey five on the 399-yard final hole.

"I didn't play particularly well in the previous few events, so being able to see my improvement here means a lot. My putting has improved significantly, and both my distance and ball striking have gotten better. That gives me more motivation to keep pushing in this direction next year."

Wang, who had led the points ranking and money list for most of the year after winning the Golfjoy Women's Open in March for her maiden title, started the day four shots off the lead and finished with a round that featured five birdies over the opening nine holes. After bogeys on the 10th and 13th holes, she stayed close with a late birdie on the 377-yard 16th hole.

"Overall, my performances this year had both highs and lows. My results weren't always consistent, and I had quite a few three-round tournaments with scores in the 70s. However, seeing my form pick up again in the final event was a positive sign for me. It helped me rediscover my ball-striking feel," said the 18-year-old Beijing native.

Wang finished the season with 386,659 yuan to earn her playing card in Korea, just ahead of Shi's 370,101 yuan in prize money. Thai veteran Sherman Santiwiwatthanaphong was third with 314,870 yuan. Pang Runzhi closed with a six-under 66 for the low round of the tournament to finish fourth on the Order with 311,073 yuan.

"I'm very happy to have secured the season-long prize money title, and, going forward, I'm very likely to head back overseas to try competing on the KLPGA Tour," said Wang. "Winning the prize money title in my rookie season has clearly given me a lot more confidence. I believe training and competing overseas will also help me better understand where I still need to improve."