Yamashita secured victory with 17 under par and earned 425,000 euros after defeating Britain’s Lottie Woad in a playoff. Third place was shared by China’s Liu Yan and Taiwan’s Hsu Weiling, both with 15 under par.
Belac ended the tournament in 12th place at ten under par. She started well and, after two days at seven under, held a strong position for an even higher finish, but lost ground on the third day with a round of five over par.
On the final day she responded with an outstanding performance, recording nine birdies and just one bogey for a 64 on the par-72 course, the best round of the week. Only Yamashita matched that score on the final day. Belac earned just under 44,000 euros in prize money.
In what is shaping up as the best season of her career, the Portorož player has made the cut six times on the LPGA Tour this year, including four consecutive tournaments.
In Belmont she improved her previous best result of the season, which had been 14th place at the ShopRite event in Galloway less than two months ago. She then recorded her best major result with 34th place at the US Open.
