A brutal final day quelled any hope of a Minjee Lee major championship charge as Japan’s Mao Saigo won the Chevron Championship in dramatic fashion in Texas.

Five strokes back at the start of the final round at Carlton Woods, Lee fell further behind with a bogey at the opening hole and was never able to mount an assault on the leaderboard.

A round of 3-under 69 would have earned the West Australian a spot in the five-player playoff but, on a day in which only four players broke 70, Lee’s 2-over 74 saw her drop into a tie for 14th at 2-under for the tournament.

There was high drama down the stretch of the year’s first major as players either squandered winning opportunities or fought their way into sudden death.

Saigo, Ruoning Yin, Hyo Joo Kim, Lindy Duncan and Ariya Jutanugarn all ended 72 holes at 7-under par and headed back to the 18th for the largest playoff in LPGA major championship history.

Yin looked to take the advantage when she played a superb second to 15 feet behind the hole at the par-5 18th but she would run her first putt some eight feet past and lip out for birdie on the way back.

Jutanugarn also took a large portion of the hole but missed her birdie try from six feet, leaving Saigo to secure her first major title with a putt for birdie from just three feet.

Stephanie Kyriacou shot even par in the final round to finish in a share of 30th, Cassie Porter (73) tied for 40th in her major debut.

Photo: Katelyn Mulcahy/Getty Images

Results
LPGA Tour
The Chevron Championship
The Club at Carlton Woods, The Woodlands, Texas
1          Mao Saigo                   70-68-69-74—281       $US1.2m
T14      Minjee Lee                   71-69-72-74—286       $104,783
T30      Stephanie Kyriacou      74-71-73-72—290       $48,689
T40      Cassie Porter                74-71-73-73—291       $36,286
T44      Gabriela Ruffels           72-74-70-76—292       $28,741
T52      Lydia Ko (NZ)                73-72-75-73—293       $22,215
T59      Grace Kim                    74-70-77-73—294       $18,639
MC       Hannah Green              73-77—150
MC       Hira Naveed                 78-74—152

Epson Tour
IOA Championship
Morongo Casino Resort and Spa, Beaumont, California
1          Briana Chacon              67-71-66—204 $US33,750
T31      Robyn Choi                  69-71-75—215 $1,888
T41      Su Oh                          73-72-72—217 $1,219