Pagdanganan among 4 tied for the LPGA lead in Mexico
Bianca Pagdanganan shot a 4-under 68 in the Mexico Riviera Maya Open, sharing the lead with Chisato Iwai, Jenny Shin, and Brianna Do. The players faced challenging heat and wind on the El Camaleon course, impacting their performance. Charley Hull, ranked 15th in the world, struggled, finishing with a 72.
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The Hindu
26-05-2025
- The Hindu
Aditi makes last round push to finish in top 10 in Mexico
Indian golfer Aditi Ashok played three under on the final day to secure her first top 10 finish of the season at the Mexico Riviera Maya Open, in Playa Del Carmen. With a final round 69, Aditi was Tied-ninth, her best this season. Starting her final round on the front nine, Aditi picked up shots on the third and fifth holes. On the back nine she started with consecutive birdies on the 10th and 11th holes before she dropped those shots on the 12th with a double bogey. The double bogey would be her only rough patch during the round. She closed off her round with her fifth birdie on the 16th hole. Chisato Iwai played the best round of the day to win her first LPGA title. Iwai opened her final day on the front nine with five birdies in the first six holes. The back nine looked to be a similar story as she birdied the 10th and 13th holes. After her sole bogey of the round on the 14th hole Iwai slowed down and kept a clean sheet on the final four holes to finish the round with a score of 66 six under and closed the campaign six shots ahead of Jenny Bae. Her total score for the tournament was 12 under par for a six-shot win. LPGA rookie and day three leader Jenny Bae had a poor start to her final day that was in direct contrast to Iwai. Bae opened the day with bogeys on the first and second holes and went on to finish with 73 to be second at a distant 6-under. Haeji Kang (71) was third at 5-under.
Hindustan Times
25-05-2025
- Hindustan Times
Chisato Iwai wins Mexico Riviera Maya Open by 6 shots for first LPGA title
PLAYA DEL CARMEN, Mexico — 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. golf: /hub/golf
Hindustan Times
24-05-2025
- Hindustan Times
Jenny Bae lets scoring chances slips away and settles for 1-shot lead in LPGA event in Mexico
PLAYA DEL CARMEN, Mexico — Jenny Bae started with three straight birdies and had a one-shot lead that could have been larger except for a soft finish Saturday in the Mexico Riviera Maya Open. Bae didn't make another birdies after the third hole. What held her back were having to settle for pars on easy scoring holes, and then closing with a bogey when it took her two shots to get out of the crushed coral left of the green on the par-5 18th. Bae was at 7-under 209, and the LPGA rookie faces a big test Sunday — along with just about everyone else chasing her — in a bid for her first LPGA victory. 'I didn't finish as well as I wanted to, but that's OK,' Bae said. 'Just tells me that I need to fight more the last 18 holes.' The El Camaleon course at Mayakoba was set up for scoring, with the tees moved up on the par-4 17th to make it reachable with a fairway metal, and the par-5 closing hole. Yahui Zhang of China finished birdie-birdie for a 68 and was at 6-under 210, along with Chisato Iwai of Japan, who also birdied the last two holes. Another shot back was Gabriela Ruffels of Australia, who had the strongest closing kick of all. Ruffels was 3 over for her round when she holed a 15-foot birdie putt on the 14th hole. On the par-4 16th, the toughest on the back nine, she holed a birdie putt from 20 feet. Ruffels left her tee shot just in front of the green on the 17th, pitched to a back pin some 4 feet away for birdie, and then made it three straight at the end with a birdie at the 18th. That allowed her to salvage a 71 and left her very much in the mix. 'I was just proud of the way I kind of stuck in there and felt like I gave myself the chance to kind of come back,' Ruffels said. 'To finish the way I did is really good and some momentum into tomorrow.' Also finishing strong was Miranda Wang of China, even if it was to keep her head above water. She was five shots behind when Wang started missing to the left — a tee shot into the bushes on the 16th that led to a penalty shot, a tee shot on the 17th into the water left of the green. Both times, Wang made 15-foot putts to save par, and then after pulling her approach left of the 18th green, she got that up-and-down for birdie for a 73. She was among seven players at 4-under 212, three shots out of the lead. Bae was pleased to be in front, though she missed an opportunity to have a little more room for error. She missed a 6-foot birdie putt on the par-5 13th. She was in good position off the 17th, just short of the green, but her pitch was strong and too far right and rolled through to the collar. She had to settle for par. On the 18th, she pulled her approach into a patch of crushed coral to a short-sided pin. She didn't catch enough of the golf ball and left it in the sandy area, then caught all ball and sent it 25 feet past the pin on the collar. Two putts from there led to bogey. 'I feel like I definitely left a few birdies out there, but it's OK because I know those chances that I missed today could also be the birdies that I get tomorrow,' Bae said. This is the final week before the U.S. Women's Open, and the LPGA's return to Mexico for the first time since 2017 did not attract a strong field with Charley Hull at No. 15 the highest-ranked player. But it's a great opportunity for everyone else. The top 11 players on the leaderboard — everyone at 4 under and better — are going for their first LPGA win. golf: /hub/golf
