WILLIAMSBURG, Virginia —On course for her maiden LPGA Tour victory on Sunday, Bronte Law's final round at the Pure Silk Championship started to go pear-shaped at the turn as searing heat sapped her strength and her swing started to fail her.

Thankfully, crackers saved the day. "I honestly don't think that I ate enough on the front nine," said Law after sealing a two-stroke win in Williamsburg, Virginia.

"I would've kicked myself had that been the issue, but I could feel myself getting a little tired. When I get tired I swing a little under the plane and start losing those shots out right."

The 24-year-old had picked up four shots in her first eight holes on Sunday to grab the outright lead but the first signs of trouble came at the ninth where she pushed her drive right and ran up a bogey.

The next two holes saw her leak drives to the right again, and while she managed to save par the Englishwoman was in danger of letting the round get away from her.

"On hole 11 I think it was I told my caddie, I need some food. I was kind of getting so caught up in the moment that I really didn't eat enough.

"I think I had a crackers or something. I don't really like to eat when it's that hot. I managed to force some food down my throat and I was fine after that."

Law had been on the brink of her first LPGA Tour title three weeks ago in San Francisco but lost out in a playoff at the Mediheal Championship to Kim Sei-young.

Bouncing back from that disappointment so quickly, and holding it together on Sunday when the heat was on, proved she had what it takes to compete on the elite women's circuit, Law added.

"So that's something that I'm going to carry forward for the coming weeks. Obviously have a big one next week. This was kind of the perfect way to prepare, I guess."

The "big one" is the biggest of all — the US Women's Open. She failed to make the cut in 2017 and did not play last year but hopes to be vying for the title at next week's tournament in South Carolina.

"I don't think you have to change anything just because the title of the event changes," she said. "I'll go out there and I'll prepare as I did this week.

"It's golf, so hopefully I can carry on this momentum into next week and play some more solid golf and kind of be in contention again.

"That's what I live for. The feeling when you have a shot at winning is exactly why I play the game." — Reuters