Kiwi golfer Lydia Ko has snapped her cold streak with a third-place finish at the BMW Ladies Championship in South Korea.
Ko fired a third straight score of three-under 69 in her final round to finish three shots shy of Australia winner Minjee Lee.
Her first top-five finish of the season, the result is the world No.13's best of the year - surpassing her sixth placing in Thailand in February.
Ko's round included five birdies, including two straight on the final pair of holes, in an impressive defence of the title she won last year.
"Going into today, I was like, 'I've got nothing to lose'," said Ko. "I'm not in the lead and I'm obviously close.
"Going into this week, I could have finished last or first, who knows. It was a complete potluck in ways, so obviously a lot of good things to reflect on this week and hopefully good momentum to Malaysia."
Lee overcame a late rally by Alison Lee and defeated the American on the first playoff hole to win the title at Gyeonggi-do.
Minjee Lee carded a four-under-par 68 and joined Alison Lee (67) at 16-under for the tournament at Seowon Valley Country Club.
"Going into the back nine, the first probably five holes, I wasn't quite as nervous," said Minjee Lee. "I was probably a bit more excited than nervous to be fair.
"These last few holes, I was quite excited to play and, you know, we always want to be putting ourselves in that position, in the contending position, week-in, week-out, and I was lucky enough to do it this week.
"It's just really fun to play in those type of conditions and those situations, so I think I really had fun out there this week."
The victory was especially sweet for Minjee Lee, whose parents are from South Korea.
Alison Lee forced the playoff with birdies on the 17th and 18th holes, giving her five for the day, against two bogeys, but she was unable to match Minjee Lee in the playoff. Her approach landed in front of the green and she settled for par on the extra hole.
Angel Yin (67) wrapped up a fourth-place finish at 13-under, while Frenchwoman Celine Boutier (70) was part of a five-way tie for fifth place at 12-under. Joining Boutier were England's Jodi Ewart Shadoff (65), and South Koreans Jeongeun Lee6 (67) and Jiyai Shin, as well as Thailand's Atthaya Thitikul (69).
South African Ashleigh Buhai, who shared the lead into the fourth round, carded a 74 to plummet into a 13th-place tie at 10-under.
Reuters/Newshub
