SOUTH Korea's Shin Ji Yai won the US$1 million ($1.5m) top prize at the LPGA's season-ending ADT Championship, firing a two-under par 70 this morning to claim an eight-woman, 18-hole showdown.

Shin, the 20-year-old British Women's Open champion, who also won two weeks ago in Japan, shared fifth after Saturday's round but all prior scores were wiped out for this morning's shootout at the 6,523-yard Trump International course at West Palm Beach, Florida.

Serving notice to the LPGA Tour she will join next year, Shin followed her major triumph by taking the biggest prize in women's golf by one stroke over Australian veteran Karrie Webb.

American Paula Creamer, a questionable starter after severe abdominal pain on Saturday night, and South Korean Lee Seon Hwa shared third on 74, one stroke ahead of Korean Ji Eun Hee.

American Angela Stanford was sixth after firing a 78, one stroke better than Norway's Suzann Pettersen and Korean Jeong Jang.

Shin birdied the second and third holes to seize the early lead. She took a bogey at the par-three seventh to fall back into a share of the lead but birdied the par-five 12th to reach two-under and grab a two-stroke lead on Ji, Lee and Webb.

Shin opened the door with a bogey at the par-five 15th but birdied the 16th to regain a two-stroke lead over Webb with two holes remaining.

Webb kept the pressure on Shin with a birdie at the par-four 18th but Shin followed with a par to seal the victory.

Webb took three bogeys in a row starting at the 11th but a birdie at the 15th left her at level par, the closest to Shin's pace as other rivals faded.

Ji opened with 11 pars before a bogey at the 12th and another at 15, also a par-five, doomed her bid.

Lee answered a bogey at the fourth with a birdie on the next hole and a bogey at the eighth by starting the back nine with a birdie.

But after grabbing a share of the lead with a birdie at the 16th, Lee took a double bogey at the par-three 17th to fall two back of Shin.

Creamer was hospitalised on Saturday night with severe abdominal pain and concerns of appendicitis but was on the tee this morning to make her bid for the top spot after doctors cleared her to play.

Creamer, second on the money list entering the event, would have passed top-ranked Lorena Ochoa of Mexico to win the season money title had she won. No US-born player has won the money crown since Betsy King in 1993.

Ochoa was eliminated on Saturday, the same day she was named the LPGA Player of the Year for the third season in a row and a day after Sweden's Annika Sorenstam, playing in her final LPGA event, was ousted.

Pettersen, seeking her first victory over the season, led after the third round but her lead was erased under the playoff-style rules. She had four bogeys in the first five holes Sunday and was never a threat.

AFP