The 26-year-old had enjoyed a five-stroke lead with just six holes left in the championship at the Sky 72 Club in Korea, before her concentration seemed to break and she had to fight to win her first LPGA Tour title.

Having started the final round five strokes behind 54-hole leader Lee, Ciganda went on a birdie blitz, picking up shots at the 1st, 3rd, 5th, 6th and 8th holes to be out in 31 strokes. She added another birdie at the 10th hole to reach 14 under and by the 12th hole she had orchestrated a 10-shot turnaround on the overnight leader.

But looking at the leaderboard might have bene her biggest mistake of the day as she started getting a little loose with her approach shots. One such shot resulted in a double bogey on the par-4 14th when she failed to completely escape a greenside bunker that left her a difficult fourth shot. Further bogies at the 16th and 18th holes saw the Spaniard drop to 10 under, which gave her the clubhouse lead. But she had to wait to see if she had blown her chances of a maiden victory.

Lee grabbed the lead again at the 71st hole but gave the shot right back with a bogey at the final hole when, needing a par to win, Lee’s approach came up short of the green and bounced into the water. She was then able to get up and down for bogey to send the tournament into extra time.

Alison Lee takes a drop after hitting her ball into the water on the 72nd hole. PHOTO: Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images.

Ciganda made short work of the play-off on the par-5 18th hole, sticking her third shot approach to eight feet from the hole and calmly rolling it in for the victory.

“It means the world me. It's pretty nice to win here in Korea where women's golf is so big,” Ciganda said. “It's been a long journey, but at the same time it's really nice to get the win. I love competing and playing and being an athlete. I couldn't ask for a better life.

FINAL LEADERBOARD

“When I made that double I was thinking about the result. I was just really happy with my caddie, Javi. He's helping me a lot. I'm just enjoying golf out there and just playing my best.

“I'm not going to lie, I was really nervous on the last three, four holes. But I was positive. I just tried my best and I tried to play each shot the best I could. So it's not that I was giving up or anything.

“It's very special (the win) because it's been tough the last two years. At the same time, I like fighting and everything. I know in Spain everyone been following me. Yeah, I mean, very, very happy to win this.”

Winners are grinners - Carlota Ciganda is all smiles after her breakthrough victory. PHOTO: Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images.

Olympic bronze medallist Shanshan Feng, of China, and Korea’s Min-Sun Kim finished in a share of third at eight under, two strokes out of the play-off.

Since winning the bronze medal in Rio, Feng has played her best golf of the year. Feng’s third place finish this week in Korea is her fourth consecutive top-four finish since the Olympics.

After shooting a disastrous 80 to start the tournament, Victorian Su Oh fought back over the remaining three rounds to finish at one under and a share of 29th place, which was the best performance from the Aussies. She was helped along the way by a hole-in-one on the par-3 17th during the third round.