Korea's In-Kyung Kim held off a brilliant challenge from England's Jodi Ewart Shadoff to claim an overdue maiden Major title in the Ricoh Women's British Open at Kingsbarns on Sunday.
Kim saw her six-shot overnight lead cut in half thanks to a superb run of scoring from Shadoff, who followed a birdie on the second with five in a row from the sixth and another on the 13th.
The 29-year-old from Northallerton then birdied the 17th to close the gap to two and parred the last to complete a 64, equalling the course record set on day one by Michelle Wie and matched by Inbee Park in round three.
However, Kim, who famously missed a one-foot putt to win the Kraft Nabisco Championship in 2012, was able to par the final five holes for a closing 71 and winning total of 18 under par.
Irish amateur Leona Maguire missed out on back-to-back amateur titles at the tournament after a closing 75 let in England's Sophie Lamb, who carded a three-under 69 to finish on six under and win the Silver Salver.
Maguire was one over to the turn after bogeys on the fifth and the ninth – the only birdie of her final round coming on the par-three seventh hole.
With Lamb already in the clubhouse, Maguire knew she was one shot behind on the back nine, but the birdies just wouldn’t come.
Her hopes of defending her title disappeared at the 17th with a double-bogey six pushing her back to three under, where she finished.
Speaking about recovering from her heartbreaking loss in 2012, Kim told Sky Sports: “It’s been a long process but I had a lot of helping hands.
“A lot of my team helped me to enjoy golf and love what I do. That’s what I have learned. I have to give the same effort to every shot and that’s what I learned from that mistake.
“I think I already experienced the worst. I don’t have as much fear. Having fun out there is more important to me and that’s all I was really focusing on. I wanted to remember every hole that I played and I really gave my best.
“Nothing really changes I don’t think. Winning is great but I felt like I deserve happiness anyway. But [after holing the final putt] deep inside I felt ‘Oh my God, it happened’.”
Shadoff’s runners-up finish is her best result in a Major and secured her place on Europe’s Solheim Cup team to take on the United States in Iowa from August 18-20.
“I’m so excited,” Shadoff told Sky Sports. “My last Solheim [in 2013] was the best experience I’ve had on a golf course so I’m looking forward to doing it again and trying to take the trophy back.”
Speaking about her round, Shadoff added: “No dropped shots around here, especially in these conditions, I couldn’t have asked for anything better. I played really solid and holed a lot of putts.
“I just told myself to take the opportunities when they came because the last five or six holes are the hardest on the course and you never know what can happen around there.
"I think playing last week in the Scottish Open really helped me with the weather and the wind and everything. I've typically never played well in links golf but this year I've been working with David Leadbetter a lot and he's helped me control my ball flight."
England's Georgia Hall carded a final round of 70 to share third place with Wie and Germany's Caroline Masson.
