HAVRE DE GRACE, Md. --- Yani Tseng, of Taiwan, became the first rookie in 10 years to win a major, beating Maria Hjorth on the fourth hole of a playoff with a 5-foot birdie on No. 18 to win the LPGA Championship.

Tseng, a 19-year-old with a decorated amateur career, closed with 4-under-par 68 and became the second-youngest woman to win a major. Not since Se Ri Pak in the 1998 LPGA Championship had a rookie won a major.

"I feel so lucky," Tseng said.

Hjorth appeared to have fate on her side when her fairway metal bounced off the rocks in a creek, over a ledge and across the green, turning a bogey, at best, into a birdie on the 15th hole. She closed with 71 and missed a 12-foot birdie putt before Tseng holed the winning putt.

Lorena Ochoa went 14 holes without a birdie, ending her hopes of a third consecutive major. She birdied two of the last three holes for 71 and finished one shot out of the playoff, along with Annika Sorenstam.

Sorenstam (71) had a 15-foot birdie putt on No. 18 to get into the playoff, but she left it short.

"It wasn't my time," Ochoa said, showing more emotion than she had all week. "I am not ashamed. I'm proud of my finish."

Equally disappointed was Sorenstam, trying to join Mickey Wright as the only four-time winners of the LPGA Championship. She gave herself plenty of chances, and the final putt summed up her week.

"It's a tough time," Sorenstam said. "I was determined today, really this whole week. I felt like I could do it."

Tseng and Hjorth finished at 12-under 276.

Playing the 18th hole for the third time in an hour, Tseng's shot out of the first cut stopped 5 feet behind the flag.

"I was really nervous playing in the playoff," Tseng said. "I told myself, 'Just like amateur, relax.' "

The sudden-death playoff essentially was match play, and Tseng again came through. When Michelle Wie was at the top of her game at 14, Tseng rallied to beat her in the 2004 U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links. A year later, she defeated Morgan Pressel in the North & South Amateur, among her 19 amateur victories worldwide.