The Hall of Famer – and Olympic gold medallist – defeated World No.2 Ariya Jutanugarn by one shot to join the winner’s circle on the LPGA Tour for the first time since November 2015.

The seven-time major winner had taken a six-month break following her success in Rio, and had only returned a week ago in Thailand where she finished 25th.

“Yeah, it surprises me, as well, because I thought it may take maybe a couple months to kind of get back out on the Tour and to get my rhythm back,” Park said.

FINAL LEADERBOARD 

Park put on a putting masterclass to become the first two-time winner of the Women’s Champions event in Singapore.

“I couldn’t make any putts yesterday and obviously I made up for it today,” the South Korean said. “Today was pretty much … everything I looked at, it wanted to drop in.”

Inbee Park celebrates her win in just her second start of the year after a six-month layoff. PHOTO: Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images

Former US Open champion Michelle Wie, who led the field by two strokes heading into the final round, finished in a tie for fourth – her best finish since 2014.

“Obviously I wanted to walk away with the trophy, but there’s so many leaps and strides forward that I made this week,” Wie said.

“I can't complain, but right now it stings a little bit. I played hard. Just a couple of putts didn't drop in and I just missed a couple. Just that one hole I missed two short ones. But I played well today.”

Wie began her final round well with birdies early on the 3rd and 4th holes, but her push for a win was thwarted by a double bogey at the par-5 5th, which she never really recovered from.

Minjee Lee finished in a tie for 30th after signing for a final round 73 and was Australia’s best. Su Oh (66) and Karrie Webb (68) both grabbed a share of 48th.