Hangzhou, China: Arpichaya Yubol overturned a seven-stroke overnight deficit to strike gold for Thailand at the 19th Asian Games.
The 21-year-old snared six birdies en route to a closing four-under-par 68 at the Westlake International Golf Club.
That gave the LPGA Tour member a four-day aggregate of 19-under 269 and a two-stroke triumph from Indian Aditi Ashok, whose commanding lead evaporated with an error-strewn display that saw her soar to a 77 – no fewer than 16 strokes worse than her third-round display.
Thanks to a best-of-the-day 65, Korean Yoo Hyun-jo claimed the individual bronze medal.
There was more golden glory for Thailand in the team event, with the trio of Arpichaya, Patcharajutar Kongkraphan and Eila Galitsky - reigning Women's Amateur Asia-Pacific champion - topping the standings.
In the event in which the best two daily scores in each three-strong team were counted, the Thais had a winning total of 34-under 542.
Korea (Yoo, Kim Min-sol and Lim Ji-yoo) took the silver medal on 547, while the bronze went to the heavily-favoured China team of Yin Ruoning, Lin Xiyu and Liu Yu on 550.
India, who led the team standings after three rounds, missed out on a medal, finishing fourth on 554.
"I'm so happy, and I made the Thai people proud that I can get two more gold medals," said Arpichya, who curled in a birdie putt on the 17th to take a two-stroke cushion into the last hole, then tapped in for par for the biggest win of her career.
"This is my first Asian Games and that I can get the gold medal makes me proud of myself," she added.
A day after posting an 11-under 61 to take a seemingly unassailable advantage into the final round, Ashok struggled badly with a solitary birdie offset by four bogeys and a double-bogey at the short 16th as she signed off with a 77.
The 25-year-old at least had the distinction of gaining India’s first women’s golfing medal at the Asiad and providing a modicum of redemption for narrowly missing a medal at the Tokyo Olympics where she placed fourth.
She said: "Today I kind of threw it away. I shot my career best round yesterday and probably the worst of the year today. That's just what it was."
Arpichaya turned professional in 2017 at the age of 15 and achieved remarkable success on the Thai LPGA Tour the following year, winning five tournaments in a row and the season-long Order of Merit.
In 2022 she claimed a maiden victory on the Ladies European Tour Access Series, winning the Trust Golf Links Series – Musselburgh by five shots.
She then came through Qualifying School to earn an LPGA Tour card for 2023 and began this week in 206th place in the Rolex Women’s World Ranking.
Joint second after round two, Yin Ruoning’s hopes faded badly over the weekend.
A week after becoming only the second Chinese to reach number one in the Rolex Women’s World Ranking, Yin dropped into a share of eighth place after closing with rounds of 74 and 73.
Leading Final-Round Scores, Individual
269 – Arpichaya Yubol (Thailand) 67-65-69-68
271 – Aditi Ashok (India) 67-66-61-77
272 – Yoo Hyun-jo (Korea) 68-73-66-65
273 – Lin Xiyu (China) 67-67-68-71
276 – Patcharajutar Kongkraphan (Thailand) 69-67-70-70
277 – Kim Min-sol (Korea) 69-68-69-71
279 – Eila Galitsky (Thailand) 69-70-67-73
280 – Mamika Shinchi (Japan) 69-70-71-70; Yin Ruoning (China) 67-66-74-73; Liu Yu (China) 67-68-71-74
281 – Saki Baba (Japan) 65-72-68-76
282 – Rianne Malixi (Philippines) 68-70-73-71
284 – Pranavi Urs (India) 71-68-70-75
285 – Arianna Lau (Hong Kong, China) 71-70-73-71
286 – Sophie Han (Hong Kong, China) 71-70-73-72; Tiffany Huang Ting-hsuan (Chinese Taipei) 68-73-69-76
289 – Chien Pei-yun (Chinese Taipei) 71-70-72-76
291 – Avani Prashanth (India) 72-69-74-76; Koh Sock Hwee (Singapore) 69-70-75-77
296 – Mizuki Hashimoto (Japan) 70-69-76-81
Full Final-Round Scores, Teams
542 – Thailand (136-132-136-138)
547 – Korea (137-140-135-135)
550 – China (134-133-139-144)
554 – India (138-134-131-151)
559 – Japan (134-139-139-147)
569 – Chinese Taipei (139-139-141-150)
571 – Hong Kong, China (142-140-146-143)
579 – Singapore (143-139-146-151)
