LOS ANGELES: Moriya Jutanugarn won the HUGEL-JTBC LA Open by two shots for her first victory after six years on the LPGA Tour, joining sister Ariya as the second siblings to win on the tour.
The 23-year-old from Bangkok shot a 3-under 68 for a 272 total Sunday at Wilshire Country Club in the tour's return to Los Angeles after a 13-year absence.
Moriya won in her 156th start after three career runner-up finishes, including at the Honda LPGA Thailand in February. She had 21 top-10 finishes before winning.
Seven-time winner Ariya tied for 24th after a 70. She joined the predominantly Asian crowd to follow her older sister's final holes, crying as Moriya two-putted to close out the win.
Annika and Charlotta Sorenstam were the first sisters to win on the LPGA Tour.
Hall of Famer Inbee Park shot a 68 to tie for second with Jin Young Ko (70).
Park had opportunities, but she wasn't able to put pressure on Moriya playing in the final threesome. However, Park will return to No. 1 in the world when the rankings come out Monday, knocking off top-ranked Shenshen Fang, who tied for 12th.
Moriya began the final round with a two-shot lead and never wavered in fulfilling the potential she first displayed as the LPGA Rookie of the Year in 2013. After a birdie at the second hole, she reeled off nine consecutive pars before sinking birdie putts at 12 and 13.
She overcame a tee shot that narrowly missed going out of bounds for another birdie at 15 to lead by three.
Moriya ran into trouble on the par-4 16th. Her approach landed on the green and rolled off it, stopping inches from dropping into a bunker. Her chip shot ran well past the hole and her par putt just missed catching the edge of the cup. That left her with a short putt for bogey, her first in her previous 28 holes, trimming her lead to two shots.
Ko's tee shot on 18 landed about 4 feet from the cup, giving her a chance to cut Moriya's lead to one shot with the Thai facing a long birdie attempt.
But Ko missed, leaving Moriya room to maneuver. Her birdie putt came up a couple feet short, but she calmly parred the hole to win. Ariya rushed onto the green and joined others in emptying water bottles on her sister before they embraced.
So Yeon Ryu (68) finished fourth at 7 under. American Emma Talley (67) and Eun-Hee Ji (71) tied for fifth at 6 under, making Ji one of four South Koreans to place in the top five.