Ingrid Lindblad of Sweden posted a final-round, 4-under-par 68 and prevailed at the JM Eagle LA Championship on Sunday in Los Angeles.
Lindblad — who was making her third start in her first season on the LPGA Tour — shot 21-under 267 for the week at El Caballero Country Club, with 68s on Thursday, Saturday and Sunday and a red-hot round of 63 on Friday.
Lindblad shared the 54-hole lead with Lauren Coughlin and Japan’s Akie Iwai, but Coughlin and Iwai played in the final pairing of the day. Lindblad was preparing for a potential playoff as Iwai and Coughlin played the par-4 18th; Iwai was at 21 under after her fifth birdie of the day at No. 16, and Coughlin was in the hunt at 20 under.
Neither player hit the green in regulation, and Iwai’s chip rolled past the pin and left her several feet for par to force a playoff. The left-to-right putt missed narrowly to the right of the cup, leaving Iwai to settle for a 69 and second place.
Lindblad, 25, said she was “a little bit” surprised she earned her maiden LPGA win so soon.
“I mean, you should never not expect it, right?” she said on the Golf Channel broadcast. “But obviously got it done in a couple starts. It’s kind of crazy.”
Lindblad made five birdies through her first eight holes along with a pair of bogeys. She responded to the bogeys at Nos. 3 and 6 with runs of consecutive birdies each time. Her final birdie came at the par-5 11th, and she came home with seven straight pars.
“I was still in some rough, but I made a couple birdies on the front nine and then kinda just slowed down on the back,” Lindblad said. “Obviously, I feel like I could have even had a couple more on the back nine but here we are.”
El Caballero was hosting an LPGA event for the first time since 2004, when a tournament called the Office Depot Championship was won by none other than Swedish golf legend Annika Sorenstam. That fact wasn’t lost on her countrywoman.
“It means a lot,” Lindblad said. “She’s done a lot for us in women’s golf and she’s a big inspiration.”
Coughlin also finished her round with a bogey and shot 70, settling for a tie for third at 19 under with Germany’s Esther Henseleit (64) and Japan’s Miyu Yamashita (66).
–Field Level Media
