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Sanya - South Africa's Lee-Anne Pace shot a six-under-par 66 to win the Sanya Ladies Open in China on Sunday.
Her fourth victory of the season, it moves her to first place on the Ladies European Tour's Henderson Money List ahead of England's Laura Davies.
The 29-year-old from Mossel Bay ended on 11-under-par 205 after three rounds at Yalong Bay Golf Club in Sanya, Hainan Province, for a one-shot victory over Austria's Stefanie Michl, playing in temperatures of 44C at midday.
Pace began the final round four shots behind Michl but she had already tied for the lead with her fourth birdie of the day at the ninth hole.
With three straight birdies from the 12th, Michl moved two ahead, but she dropped a shot at the 15th and Pace then birdied the next hole to tie for the lead.
After keeping her cool in the hot and humid conditions all day, Michl missed the 18th green with her approach shot and was unable to get up and down, leaving Pace two putts to ensure victory.
"I can't believe it. I'm a little bit overwhelmed. I didn't quite expect to win today, but I wanted to get a little bit of a chase, which I did, so I'm just over the moon," said Pace.
She has already claimed the Deutsche Bank Ladies Swiss Open, S4C Wales Ladies Championship of Europe and Finnair Masters this year.
"It was a goal to come and win this week, or finish top five, just get a little bit ahead. Now I've done that, so we move on to the next one," she said. She plays in the Suzhou Taihu Ladies Open in Suzhou, China, next week.
"Next week, I'm still going to go for the win. I've played there before, I really enjoy the course. I like the place and feel very comfortable there, so I think it's going to be good. I'm hitting the ball really well."
Thailand's Pornanong Phatlum (67) was third on eight-under-par and Australian Nikki Garrett (69) was a shot back in fourth. England's Florentyna Parker shot a final round of 73 and slipped back into a tie for fifth place with Scotland's Vikki Laing (67), South Korean Jeehae Lee and Thailand's Russamee Gulyanamitta.
Spain's Belen Mozo, who was invited to the event, recorded the first hole-in-one of her short professional career at the third hole using a six-iron and finished on one-under-par in a share of 16th place.
