Mao Saigo of Japan rolled in a 5-foot birdie putt to win a historic and chaotic five-woman playoff at the Chevron Championship, capturing her first major title on Sunday in The Woodlands, Texas.
Saigo, who began the day tied for the lead with South Korea’s Haeran Ryu, carded a 2-over-par 74 at The Club at Carlton Woods, needing birdie at the par-5 18th to advance to the playoff.
Saigo, Ruoning Yin of China, Hyo Joo Kim of South Korea, Ariya Jutanugarn of Thailand and Lindy Duncan all finished regulation at 7-under-par 281. It marked the largest playoff at an LPGA major in history.
Jutanugarn led for most of the day and needed par at the last hole to win outright. However, in a bizarre sequence on her third stroke, she missed nearly her entire ball, which moved very slightly forward. She wound up with a bogey, opening the door for the playoff.
The five players returned to the 18th tee. Yin was the only player to hit the green in two shots, but she badly misread the midrange eagle putt and also lipped out her birdie try. While Duncan ended up with a bogey, Kim and Jutanugarn also missed their birdies.
That left Saigo, who went over the green on her second shot and pitched it to about 5 feet for the winning birdie.
“I was so laser focused and nervous and really in the zone,” Saigo said. “All I could think of is the ball in front of me. I couldn’t see anything else. I was shaking from nervousness, but I did my best to calm down and I shot and it went in.”
Saigo, 23, had not won on American soil before Sunday. Ranked 37th in the world, her six career victories all came on the LPGA of Japan Tour.
“It was my dream to earn this major,” Saigo said through a translator. “It is my first time to win this tournament … and I was able to realize my dream and I’m very happy about this.”
Jutanugarn, a two-time major champion, started the day three off the pace but birdied the second, eagled the par-5 fourth and birdied the par-5 eighth to shoot up to 10 under. Bogeys at Nos. 9 and 13 pulled her down, but she maintained the lead.
Duncan briefly tied her at 8 under with birdies at Nos. 13-14 but bogeyed the following two holes.
With water protecting the green at No. 18, Jutanugarn hit her second shot over the green and hit it off the base of a grandstand. She was not granted relief because she wasn’t close enough to the structure. That’s when she completely missed her ball on her third shot, incurring a stroke.
Jutanugarn got the ball on the green in four and missed her par putt, dropping to 7 under. At the same time, Yin birdied the 18th to tie Jutanugarn and Kim (in the clubhouse with a 70) for the lead.
Later, Jutanugarn said she went to the chipping green while waiting for the playoff.
“At the driving range and chipping green I just can get the feel for the chipping, and didn’t really think of the result or anything, just trying to get the feel and work on what I worked on,” she said. “And still, I still think I had a good chance out there, so just do my best.”
In the final group, Saigo and Duncan birdied No. 18 to join the playoff. Duncan was the only player who didn’t aim for the grandstand. She blew an eagle putt from off the green 10 feet past the hole, but she made the comebacker for birdie.
The 34-year-old Duncan was also looking for her first victory — at a major or otherwise.
“I was talking about (that) with my caddie, Stephen (Nuby),” Duncan said. “We came off the playoff and we were just like, ‘Over the course of four rounds, you mess up so many times. We still made it into a playoff to win.’
“That just shows if you just keep going and just keep your head in it, you never know what can happen. I think I’ll take so many great memories but also like an internal strength to just keep pushing no matter what, no matter how it feels.”
Ryu — the co-leader with Saigo through 54 holes — had a round to forget, but a final shot to remember, as she pitched in for eagle at No. 18 to finish with a 76 and share sixth place at 5 under with countrywoman Jin Young Ko (70) and Sarah Schmelzel (74).
Saigo was asked what she has in her sights next.
“I still have four more majors to go, and I want to shoot for No. 1 in the world,” she said. “I will do my best in the remaining four majors.”
–Field Level Media
