Chisato Iwai wins Mexico Riviera Maya Open by 6 shots for first LPGA title
Chisato Iwai, of Japan, hits from the second tee during the third round of the Chevron Championship LPGA golf tournament Saturday, April 26, 2025, in The Woodlands, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
golf
Chisato Iwai took a tournament up for grabs and turned it into her own highlight show Sunday, making five birdies in her opening six holes for a 6-under 66 and a six-shot victory in the Mexico Riviera Maya Open for her first LPGA title.
Iwai led from the opening hole at El Camaleon when she made birdie and Jenny Bae made bogey, and the 22-year-old from Japan was on her way.
'My mental is so calm — calm every day, every time,' Iwai said.
She ran off four straight birdies, poured in every putt that mattered and then cruised home to become the third LPGA rookie to win this season.
Iwai, whose twin sister Akie Iwai has been runner-up twice this year, finished at 12-under 276.
Bae had a one-shot lead going into the final round at Mayakoba, and the 10 players behind her also had never experienced winning on the LPGA Tour.
It didn't take long for Iwai, who had eight wins on the Japan LPGA before getting her LPGA card, to turn this into a rout.
She hit wedge to 4 feet on the third hole for birdie. She rolled in a 7-foot birdie putt on the fourth. Her approach to the par-5 fifth was right of the green, close to the water, and she calmly chipped that to 2 feet for a third straight birdie. Iwai finished the big birdie run with a 15-foot putt on No. 6.
Bae bogeyed the opening two holes and never caught up. She steadied herself on the back nine to salvage a 73 and a runner-up finish.
'It just tells me that I have a long ways to go but also I'm also getting there, too,' Bae said. 'So I'm happy. I definitely know what I need to work on for the week off for me. Hopefully I'll be able to score better at the next tournament.'
The six-shot victory for Iwai matched the largest margin this year. Rio Takeda of Japan also won by six at the Blue Bay LPGA in China.
Iwai took off early and it seemed as though everyone simply cleared out of her way. Gabriela Ruffels, who birdied five of her last six holes on Saturday to get within two shots of the lead, made only one birdie in her round of 76.
Miranda Wang, who stayed in the game with clutch par putts down the stretch in the third round, closed with a 76 without making a birdie. Yahui Zhang made bogey on six of her last seven holes for a 78.
Iwai won $375,000 for her first title. It's the first time in 10 years the LPGA has had three rookies win before the end of May.
The LPGA returned to Mexico for the first time since 2017 and didn't attract a strong field with the U.S. Women's Open next week at Erin Hills is Wisconsin. Charley Hull at No. 15 was the highest-ranked player in the field. She didn't break 70 all week and tied for 32nd.
© Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Mainichi
10 hours ago
- The Mainichi
French Open: No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka faces No. 2 Coco Gauff in the women's final
PARIS (AP) -- No.1 Aryna Sabalenka faces No. 2 Coco Gauff in the French Open final on Saturday with both women aiming to win the title for the first time. Gauff lost the 2022 French Open final at age 18 but the American beat Sabalenka in the 2023 U.S. Open final, Gauff's only major so far. The 27-year-old Sabalenka, who is from Belarus, has won three majors but is appearing in her first French Open final. It is the first No. 1 vs. No. 2 final in Paris since 2013, when Serena Williams defeated Maria Sharapova, and just the second in the last 30 years. Sabalenka and Gauff have split their 10 previous matchups evenly, but Sabalenka won their most recent encounter, also on a clay court at the Madrid Open a month ago.
Japan Today
20 hours ago
- Japan Today
Sinner beats Djokovic to set up final against defending champion Alcaraz
Italy's Jannik Sinner plays a shot against Serbia's Novak Djokovic during their semifinal match of the French Tennis Open at the Roland-Garros stadium in Paris, Friday, June 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson) tennis By JEROME PUGMIRE Top-ranked Jannik Sinner beat Novak Djokovic 6-4, 7-5, 7-6 (3) on Friday to set up a French Open final against defending champion Carlos Alcaraz. Djokovic is the men's record 24-time Grand Slam champion but could not counter Sinner's relentless accuracy and pounding forehands on Court Philippe-Chatrier. Sinner became only the second Italian man to reach the final at Roland-Garros after Adriano Panatta, the 1976 champion. Earlier, Alcaraz led 4-6, 7-6 (3), 6-0, 2-0 against Lorenzo Musetti when the eighth-seeded Italian retired with a leg injury. Sinner is aiming for his fourth major title, Alcaraz his fifth. © Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Yomiuri Shimbun
2 days ago
- Yomiuri Shimbun
French Open: No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka Ends Swiatek's Reign and Meets No. 2 Coco Gauff for the Trophy
The Associated Press Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus reacts as she plays against Poland's Iga Swiatek during their semifinal match of the French Tennis Open at the Roland-Garros stadium in Paris, Thursday, June 5, 2025. PARIS (AP) — Flecks of rust-colored clay dotted Aryna Sabalenka's back and caked her white shoes as she ripped big shot after big shot against Iga Swiatek on Thursday, the thud of racket-on-string reverberating off the closed roof at the main stadium at Roland Garros. So used to hearing — and believing — she was a fast-court specialist who couldn't succeed on the slower red clay used at Roland-Garros, the No. 1-ranked Sabalenka showed just how good she can be on the surface by ending Swiatek's 26-match unbeaten streak at the French Open and bid for a record fourth consecutive trophy with a 7-6 (1), 4-6, 6-0 win in Thursday's semifinals. Now Sabalenka will try to win her fourth Grand Slam title — and first not on a hard court — when she takes on No. 2 Coco Gauff in Saturday's final. It will be the first title match in Paris between the Nos. 1 and 2 women since 2013 and just the second in the past 30 years. 'It's going to mean everything to me and my team, because I have to say that almost (my) whole life, I've been told (clay) is not my thing, and then I didn't have any confidence,' Sabalenka said. 'In the past — I don't know how many years — we've been able to develop my game so much, so I feel really comfortable on this surface and actually enjoy playing on clay.' Gauff, a 21-year-old American who was the runner-up in 2022 to Swiatek, reached her second French Open final by beating 361st-ranked French wild-card entry Loïs Boisson 6-1, 6-2 in a far-less-interesting, far-less-competitive semifinal. 'My first final here, I was super nervous, and I kind of wrote myself off before the match even happened,' said Gauff, who is 5-5 against Sabalenka and beat her for the 2023 U.S. Open title at age 19. 'Obviously, here, I have a lot more confidence just from playing a Grand Slam final before and doing well in one.' Much to the chagrin of the 15,000 or so locals pulling for their countrywoman at Court Philippe-Chatrier, Gauff vs. Boisson wasn't much of a contest, as might be expected from their rankings and relative experience. Then again, that didn't stop Boisson from eliminating both No. 3 Jessica Pegula and No. 6 Mirra Andreeva en route to becoming the first woman since 1989 to get to the semifinals in her Grand Slam debut. Loud as the crowd was, repeatedly singing Boisson's first name, Gauff's play spoke volumes, too, as she took 20 of the first 30 points for a 4-0 lead. That pattern held, and by the end, Gauff had claimed 34 of the 51 points that lasted at least five strokes. Most remarkable about Sabalenka's win was the way she dominated in crunch time, racing through the last set. 'I mean, 6-love,' she said. 'What can I say? Couldn't be more perfect than that.' Swiatek's explanation? 'I lost my intensity a bit,' she said. 'Just couldn't push back.' This stat says it all: The third set included 12 unforced errors off Swiatek's racket, and zero off Sabalenka's. This continues a rough stretch for Swiatek, a 24-year-old from Poland, who hasn't reached a final at any tournament since walking away with her third trophy in a row — and fifth Grand Slam title overall — from Paris 12 months ago. She recently slid to No. 5 in the rankings. Her rut includes a loss in the semifinals at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Later last season, she was suspended for a month after testing positive for a banned substance; her explanation was accepted that the result was caused by a contaminated medicine. Sabelanka is, unquestionably, as good as it gets in women's tennis right now. 'She didn't doubt,' Swiatek said. 'She just went for it.' Even though Sabalenka broke in the first game and soon led 4-1 — at which point Swiatek was glancing up at her coach, Wim Fissette, in the stands, hoping for some sort of insight that could change things — this was not one-way traffic. Swiatek ended up leading 5-4 in that set, but when they got to the tiebreaker, Sabalenka asserted herself. Did the same in the last set. 'It was a big match, and it felt like a final,' said Sabalenka, who won the Australian Open twice and the U.S. Open once. 'But I know that the job is not done yet.'
