Toru Taniguchi closed with a 4-under-par 68 on Sunday and won the Georgia Tokai Classic by two strokes after overnight leader Nozomi Kawahara suffered a triple-bogey 7 on the 11th hole and could not recover.
Kawahara ended with a 71 and a share of second place with Myanmar's Zaw Moe, who matched Taniguchi with a 68 for the day's best score, at 8-under 280.
Kimura holds nerve
NIISATO, Gunma Pref. (Kyodo) Toshimi Kimura, who took a two-shot lead after matching the course record with a 65 Saturday, went on to claim her first title of the year Sunday as she won the Sankyo Ladies Open by three strokes after a final-round 72.
Kimura briefly gave up her lead on the front nine but came back with two birdies through 14 holes and then capitalized on a blunder by Kasumi Fujii, her closest pursuer, down the stretch at Akagi Country Club in Gunma Prefecture.
Fujii ended up alone in second at 6-under 210 after a final-round 73.
Kyoko Ono (68), who had a hole-in-one at the 12th, followed in a tie for third at 5-under 211 with Mayumi Hirase (69), Misayo Fujisawa (69) and Huang Yu-chen of Taiwan (71).