Mao Saigo wins Chevron Championship after most chaotic finish in LPGA history
Ariya Jutanugarn throws it all away down the 18th, as Mao Saigo emerges victorious from a five-way playoff to capture her first major title at the Chevron Championship.
| CHEVRON CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL LEADERBOARD | |
|---|---|
Mao Saigo | -7* |
Hyo Joo Kim | -7 |
Ariya Jutanugarn | -7 |
Ruoning Yin | -7 |
Lindy Duncan | -7 |
Jin Young Ko | -5 |
Sarah Schmelzel | -5 |
Saigo wins playoff with birdie* | |
Mao Saigo emerged victorious from the largest major playoff in LPGA history at the Chevron Championship at The Club at Carlton Woods.
Saigo, 23, picked up her first LPGA major championship and also her first LPGA event.
The Japanese golfer had won six times on the LPGA Tour of Japan but never on the LPGA prior to this week.
It didn't come easy though, in what proved to be one of the most dramatic final rounds in LPGA major history.
The biggest drama came courtesy of two-time major champion Ariya Jutanugarn, who until the par-5 18th had been the sole leader throughout the majority of the final round.
It looked for all the world that Jutanugarn was going to bring up her LPGA major hat-trick as he trudged down the final hole with a one-shot lead.
She found the right side of the green in the rough and just needed a par to see out the win.
But it all went badly wrong for her, as you can see from the video below.
A horrific flubbed chip from Jutanugarn on the 18th resulted in a bogey, and it eventually meant she joined four others for the largest playoff in LPGA major history.
— NUCLR GOLF (@NUCLRGOLF) April 27, 2025
Hyo Joo Kim, Lind Duncan, and Ruoning Yin also joined Saigo and Jutanugarn in the playoff.
Saigo held a one-shot lead on 9-under par heading into the final round with Haeran Ryu, but five bogeys and just two birdies looked to put her out of contention.
Jutanugarn, on the other hand, drained two birdies and an eagle on the front nine to take the lead, and she looked in control until a bogey at 13 and then the horror bogey at 18 meant she finished at 7-under par.
Kim emerged from the pack with three birdies in a row on the front nine, and the South Korean golfer parred out to join the playoff.
Duncan shot a rollercoaster 73, with five bogeys and four birdies, but she birdied 18 to join the five-man playoff.
Yin also birdied 18 to join the playoff.
After a spectacular second shot finding the 18th green in the playoff, Yin looked to be the certain winner, but she three-putted and settled for a par.
Duncan bogeyed the playoff hole as Jutanugarn and Kim both could only make par, with Jutanugarn seeing her birdie attempt lip out from seven feet.
They then all had to stand and watch Saigo drain her birdie putt from four feet to win her first major title.
World No.1 and defending champion Nelly Korda closed with a 70 to finish T14 on 2-under par.
Korda's disastrous opening round of 77 proved to be too much of a setback to overcome.
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