Jennifer Kupcho ends LPGA title drought with Shoprite Classic crown

Straits Times

13 hours ago

Jennifer Kupcho hits her tee on the eighth hole during the final round of the ShopRite LPGA Classic at Seaview Bay Course on June 8. PHOTO: AFP
– Jennifer Kupcho rolled in a birdie putt at the final hole for a one-shot victory over Lee Il-hee at the Shoprite Classic, capturing her first LPGA title since 2022.
'It feels amazing,' said Kupcho, a stellar amateur whose three LPGA titles in 2022 included a Major at the Chevron Championship.
'I struggled a lot early in the year and had a lot of tough weeks, a lot of hard conversations, and it feels good,' added the 28-year-old American, who birdied three of the last five holes to seal the win with a five-under-par final round of 66.
Kupcho was one of four players to start the day one shot behind South Korea's Lee and she gained ground quickly with birdies at the second, third and fifth.
Bogeys at the sixth and 11th were sandwiched around a birdie at the ninth, and Kupcho came home strong with birdies at 14, 16 and 18 for a 15-under par total of 198 in the 54-hole event at the Seaview Hotel & Country Club in Galloway, New Jersey.
Lee's hopes of adding a second LPGA title to her 2013 triumph in the Bahamas took a big hit as she bogeyed the first, third and seventh holes. But the 36-year-old, whose career has been derailed by a debilitating shoulder injury, rebounded with three straight birdies at the ninth, 10th and 11th.
She was right back in the mix with a birdie at 14, but back-to-back birdies at 17 and 18 weren't quite enough as her three-under 68 left her on 199.
'I had a couple of bad bounces on the first hole and third hole. I was just thinking, it's just golf,' Lee said.
'I was just trying the same things, same chipping, same putts... trying to move my lower body a little bit because I was kind of a little bit shaky because it was first time for me to start as a leader, so I was kind of nervous. I got through (that) pretty quick and I finished great.'
South Korean Kim Sei-young carded a six-under 65 that included a hole-in-one eagle at the 17th and a birdie at 18 and gave her sole possession of third place on 12-under 201.
Kim teed off well before the leaders on a rainy, blustery day and had just two pars on a back nine that featured three straight birdies at 11, 12 and 13 before a double bogey at 14 and a bogey at 15.
'It was like a roller coaster, up and down, up and down,' said Kim, adding that after her three birdies in a row she thought she was in striking distance of a victory.
'That thinking made me a little bit nervous, that's why my tee shot at hole 14 goes way right,' she said.
Nevertheless, with the tee moved up at 17, she knew she had a chance to make something happen and her wedge shot from off the tee found the cup for her third ace as a pro – two on the LPGA tour and one on the Korean LPGA.
'Always, it feels great. Amazing,' she said.
Japan's Ayaka Furue (70) was fourth at 11 under, while six golfers tied for fifth at 10 including Japan's Mao Saigo (71), the 2025 Chevron Championship champion.
Over on the PGA Tour, New Zealand's Ryan Fox had a dynamic putt to extend the RBC Canadian Open and later used an awesome rip from the fairway to help secure a victory.
Fox birdied the fourth play-off hole to win a showdown with American Sam Burns and capture the tournament on June 8 in Caledon, Ontario.
He notched a four-under-par 66 in the final round, forcing the play-off with a birdie putt from about 17 feet on the last hole of regulation, on the way to his second career victory. Both triumphs have come across his last four tournaments.
Burns shot 62 to set the clubhouse lead and then waited a couple of hours in an attempt to notch his first PGA Tour victory in more than two years.
Burns and Fox finished at 18-under 262 at the North Course of TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley. The duo played the par-five 18th repeatedly in the play-off until a winner was determined. They each recorded pars the first three times through.
'Sam and I had a bit of a pillow fight there for three holes. It was some pretty average golf from both of us,' Fox said.
Taiwan's Kevin Yu posted 66 for third place at 17 under. AFP
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