Shandong Province, China: Liu Wenbo captured her first CLPG Tour title in five years in dominant fashion when the Beijing veteran went wire-to-wire for a four-shot victory at the Max Caihong Qingdao Women’s Open.

Playing in windy conditions at Qingdao Linghai Hot Spring Golf Club, Liu closed with a 75 for a 54-hole score of four-under 212. Her fourth CLPG Tour title was worth RMB144,000.

Thailand’s Parinda Phokan shot a 69 for the low round of the day to finish equal runner-up with Ren Yijia, the CLPG Tour points ranking leader, Lin Xin’en (74) and local amateur Li Menghan (71) on even-par.

Liu, who started the day with a five-shot lead, never let anyone get close to her in the final round, making 15 pars. She missed a short putt on the 15th hole for bogey, and drove into the water on the par-five 16th for a double-bogey seven.

Her three-over 75 was the highest final-round score by a winner in eight years. Not that she minded.

“Winning is a great feeling. The first two days went quite smoothly, but today the wind was really strong. Everyone struggled and I was constantly scrambling for pars. I made a few mistakes towards the end, but overall it was good. I’m really happy to finally get a win this year,” said 25-year-old Liu, daughter of volleyball great Cui Yongmei, a two-time Olympic medallist.

“My form has been up and down over these past few years and I’ve been through quite a lot. The year before last, I had some issues with my driver and went through a number of coaches. My current coach has been a huge help and I feel like things are gradually changing. I hope this trend continues.”

Liu said she was still considering her next steps. If eligible, she may play the Epson Tour development circuit in the US in August. If her world ranking gets high enough, she may be able to skip the first stage of the LPGA qualifying school and go straight to the second stage.

“This win is proof of the work I’ve put in since last year. All that effort hasn’t been in vain. Moving forward, I hope to make it to the LPGA as soon as possible, and also to compete in the Olympics.”

Ren, a three-time winner this year, started strongly with birdies at the first and fourth holes to get to three-under. Three straight bogeys starting from the seventh hole proved her undoing.

The 16-year-old Dalian native said: “I’m really unhappy because there were some really basic mistakes today. Liu Wenbo didn’t play all that great today. If you ask her, she’d probably say the same thing. But she’s very steady; she doesn’t hit any wayward shots.”

Lin, a 20-year-old from Guangdong, was also disappointed with her final round, despite achieving her best result of the year.

“This round wasn’t great because my greens-in-regulation percentage was only around 30 per cent. I kept finding myself in bunkers, having to scramble. My iron play was just off,” she said.

Liu Yujie, China’s top female amateur who is ranked 17th in the world, struggled for a second consecutive day. She closed with a 76 and finished 14th.