Symetra Tour: Haruka Morita-WanyaoLu wins Symetra Classic

Published May. 23, 2015 10:49 p.m. ET

foxsports

Haruka Morita-WanyaoLu won the Symetra Classic on Saturday for her first Symetra Tour title, beating Canada's Augusta James with a birdie on the second hole of a playoff.

Morita-WanyaoLu hit an 8-iron to 5 feet to set up her winning birdie on the par- 3 18th.

''I thought finally, finally,'' Morita-WanyaoLu said. ''Finally, I was able to win.''

Morita-WanyaoLu closed with a 5-under 67 to match James at 12-under 204 at Raintree Country Club.

''I never thought about winning,'' Morita-WanyaoLu said. ''I just wanted to take it hole-by-hole and that's what helped me to post a good score.''

The 18-year-old Morita-WanyaoLu is Chinese-Japanese - Haruka Morita is her Japanese name and Wanyao Lu her Chinese name. She plays under the Chinese flag because she can't become a naturalized Japanese citizen until age 21 even though she was born in Japan and her first language is Japanese.

''There's a lot of people who are going to be very happy back home,'' said Morita-WanyaoLu, the 2013 Japan Women's Amateur champion.

James, the Chico's Patty Berg Memorial winner last month in Florida, birdied the final hole of regulation for a 67.

''I definitely grinded really hard,'' said James, the former North Carolina State player from Bath, Ontario. ''It was a huge battle between a bunch of us out there. I can take away the fact that it's out there for me, another win, and I'm working hard and grinding hard to get those.''

Morita-WanyaoLu earned $16,500 to jump from 24th to seventh on the money list with $27,353. James made $10,102 to move from sixth to second with $34,387. The final top 10 will earn 2016 LPGA Tour cards.

Rachel Rohanna was third at 11 under, also after a 67.