(Photo credit: Andrew West)

Lindy Duncan made two late birdies to separate from the pack and claim her first LPGA Tour victory at The Annika on Sunday in Belleair, Fla.

Duncan, 35, earned the win in her 222nd career start.

She entered Sunday with a one-shot lead, and her 3-under-par 67 put her at 16-under 264 for the week at Pelican Golf Club, two better than South Korea's Hye-Jin Choi, who shot 68 on Sunday. Haeran Ryu of South Korea (66) and Yuri Yoshida of Japan (68) tied for third, three back at 13 under.

Asked what kept her working toward this culmination of her efforts, Duncan replied, 'A lot of great people.'

'I got so many people to thank that believed in me when I wasn't sure if I wanted to keep playing or if I was good enough to keep playing,' she said. 'To be here, I'm just completely shocked.'

The win was massive for Duncan in more ways than one. It also vaulted her from No. 74 in the Race to the CME Globe standings to No. 34. The top 60 in the points race at the end of Sunday qualified for the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship.

Julia Lopez Ramirez of Spain also played her way into the season finale by placing fifth this week at 12 under. She carded a 67 on Sunday and moved from No. 66 to No. 47 in the points race.

'Honestly feels great,' Lopez Ramirez said. 'Feel like it's definitely a goal of mine for this year. Really wanted to make it for this week. Honestly, now that the week is done, I can say it's been the pressure obviously for the week, but I tried my best and focused on what I had in front of me. Having the battle that I had today, fighting for this spot, it's been really cool.'

Duncan, a Florida native, began her final round birdie-bogey-birdie and added a birdie at the par-5 seventh. She took a step back when she bogeyed the par-3 12th and was tied with Choi for the lead heading to the par-4 16th.

That was where she made the first of two straight birdies to break away. She holed a medium-long, slightly right-to-left birdie putt at the par-4 17th for a two-stroke advantage.

'Coming into today I kind of thought, 'No matter what happens I learned a huge lesson,' and hopefully I can take that forward with me,' Duncan said.

'I just put so much pressure on myself because I really want to do well. The competition is so great out here. Sometimes you just overtry, and I think I've done that a lot. This week I finally let that go a little bit.'

Choi, playing in the final group with Duncan, had four birdies through 11 holes but bogeyed Nos. 13 and 15 to drop back into a tie for the top spot.

'I kind of struggled with the Florida grass, but now I think that I just try my best until the end,' Choi said. 'I had really good shots on the front nine, but it kind of didn't work out on the back nine.'

France's Pauline Roussin-Bouchard snagged the 60th and final spot for the season finale, according to the LPGA website. Angel Yin, who missed the cut this week, dropped three spots and was the first woman out of the Tour Championship field.

World No. 1 Nelly Korda, also No. 1 in the CME Globe standings, will go for her second season title in three years next week. She finished seventh at The Annika at 10 under, following a final round of 67.

--Field Level Media