Latest news with #LPGAChevron
USA Today
30-04-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Lindy Duncan didn't win the LPGA Chevron, but the 34-year-old hasn't stopped smiling
Lindy Duncan didn't win the LPGA Chevron, but the 34-year-old hasn't stopped smiling Lindy Duncan didn't win the Chevron Championship, but she had hard a time sleeping on Sunday night she was so amped. Couldn't stop smiling. The former NCAA college player of the year experienced a break-through moment at the year's first major and, at age 34, appears to have her best golf in front of her. As Duncan navigated her way around the front nine of the Nicklaus course at The Club at Carlton Woods, her mother Debbie commented on how much lighter she looked in recent weeks. For years, she and others have been trying to get Lindy take the intensity down a few notches, but it wasn't until she started working with instructor Sean Foley that something clicked. 'We worked a lot on why I'm doing this,' said Duncan soon after Mao Saigo beat her and three others in a sudden-death playoff. 'It kind of just boiled down to the player that I feel like I could be – I'm just trying to be that person, even though I don't necessarily feel that way. How would that person act? How would that person handle adversity? 'I'm moving into the direction of a better version of myself.' Growing up, Duncan was a promising soccer player before three sprained ankles in one season led the doctor to prescribe a one-year layoff from contact sports. It was devastating to Duncan, who was soon invited out to the public golf course where her soccer coach worked. Come hit some balls, he told her, see what you think. 'We couldn't get her home,' said Debbie. She was obsessed. Duncan played collegiate golf at Duke and excelled academically because the competitor in her wanted the best grade. An analytical player who tends to overthink, Duncan has been known for her homemade gadgets, which she named and carried around in a rifle case. 'We'd show up at Trump International, and she's got this rifle case,' said Debbie, with a laugh. 'With the Secret Service, I'm like, do you not see that you need to get rid of the rifle case?' After the Chevron, Duncan and her sister, McKenzie, put together an insightful Instagram post detailing how she's evolved as a player. 'For a long time, my core beliefs sounded like this:Struggling means you're until you every mistake so it never happens behind practice and should be having better results. Don't feel, just push.' As Saigo prepared for the traditional champion's leap, Duncan stood off to the side of the interview podium talking about what she's learned in recent weeks. For most of her career, the analytical side of her brain would take on a problem and ruminate. Thinking she was helping herself by tackling a weakness, she'd get stuck on a loop and make it worse. Duncan, who is playing in this week's Black Desert Championship in Utah, first started working with Foley toward the end of last year but began feeling different on the inside in March at the Blue Bay LPGA in China, where she tied for 12th, and then a few weeks later at the Ford Championship in Arizona, where she finished fifth. 'That's actually my nature,' said Duncan. 'My nature is not to be so harsh, my nature is much more fun-loving and playful. It's weird because I felt like I couldn't be that way for a long time. It felt like I wasn't focused – something was blocking that. 'You know, that just comes from an insecure place,' she continued. 'It's just oh my gosh everybody is so good; I have to be so good.' At the Chevron, however, Duncan could immediately look back over the course of the week and see any number of mistakes that still put her on the brink of winning a major championship. 'You can steer yourself in different ways,' she said, 'and I definitely feel so much lighter.' Several players commented on Duncan's moving Instagram post, including her old practice buddy at Lake Nona, Lydia Ko, who said she was proud and called her an inspiration. Foley commented too, saying 'Vulnerability in front of the world is a superpower, my girl. Just getting started, LD.' Duncan's journey from losing her card several years ago to wondering time and again if this might be her last year in professional golf, sends a message of hope to those on a similar path. Especially to those who experienced great success at a young age. When she met with the press Sunday evening, Duncan was asked what message she'd give juniors about resiliency. The journeywoman said the question cuts to the heart of the mission. 'I really think that's the point of what we're doing,' she said. 'I feel like that's the purpose that we bring to the game, is to just keep moving forward. Don't look back. 'You can reflect and try to learn, but don't dwell on it. Even if it may feel like the wheels are coming off – golf makes you feel that way a lot – I think the point of it is to kind of center off that and just get right back to the process and all that goes into that. … We all have stuff we have to face and deal with. Don't avoid it. Don't run away from it. Just run right through it.'
USA Today
28-04-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Mao Saigo's victory plunge at the LPGA Chevron turned scary because she can't swim
Mao Saigo's victory plunge at the LPGA Chevron turned scary because she can't swim THE WOODLANDS, Texas – The 2025 Chevron Championship will be remembered for a lot of things. Most of those things happened before a trophy was handed out. But perhaps the most shocking turn of events came after Japan's Mao Saigo jumped into the murky waters just off the 18th green. Here's the thing no one watching knew: Saigo can't swim. 'It was scary,' said Saigo's caddie, Jeffrey Snow, who was part of a second wave of jumpers after Saigo went in with her manager, Rika Arai, and television reporter Mitsuki Katahira. Snow asked Saigo during the final round if she could swim, and she said no. Neither of them, however, thought the pond on the Nicklaus Course at The Club at Carlton Woods was that deep. After the three women jumped, three men followed suit, including Snow and two trainers, Yonguk Shin and Yonghee Lee. What started out as fun turned stressful for all as the women grabbed hold of the men to try to stay above water. Snow believes Saigo panicked when she couldn't touch ground, and she wasn't the only one pulling on him. 'Every time I broke the surface, I got pulled under again,' he said. 'They were trying to grab someone.' The men helped the women get back to the dock safely. Most of the onlookers weren't aware of how stressful the celebration had turned. Saigo, 23, made the lone birdie in a five-way playoff against major champions Ariya Jutanugarn, Ruoning Yin, Hyo Joo Kim and journeywoman Lindy Duncan to make her first LPGA victory a major. By jumping into the water, the 2024 Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year winner carried on a tradition Sunday that first started back in 1988, more than dozen years before Saigo was born. Saigo, who yelled for help in the water, had this to say through an interpreter when asked about her swimming. 'I'm not really a good swimmer,' she said. 'When I went inside, it was deep and at first, I thought I was going to drown.' Pat Hurst waded into Poppie's Pond when she won the 1998 Nabisco Dinah Shore. Yani Tseng wasn't a strong swimmer either, but the man-made pond at Mission Hills wasn't anything like what's here in Texas. In fact, officials at the old tournament site actually had to deepen the pond on 18 after Stacy Lewis' mother suffered a leg injury and was hospitalized. When the LPGA's first major moved to Texas three years ago, there was no pool-like area for the traditional jump. The club originally intended to dredge the entire area to deepen the pond. The Nicklaus design team, however, was afraid the green could potentially slough, so they changed course. The club instead built a dock and then dredged from the end of the dock to the rock wall border. At the end of the dock, it's 5 feet and progresses down close to 10 feet. They also sent divers down to check for rocks and concrete blocks beneath the surface. And for peace of mind, they installed a gator net to protect the area. 'In the future, they probably should ask, can you swim?' said Snow. Maybe have a lifeguard on duty.
RTHK
28-04-2025
- Sport
- RTHK
Japan's Saigo wins playoff for LPGA Chevron title
Japan's Saigo wins playoff for LPGA Chevron title Mao Saigo of Japan after winning the LPGA Chevron Championship tournament. Photo: Reuters Japan's Mao Saigo birdied the first extra hole to win a five-woman playoff and capture her first major title at the LPGA Chevron Championship. Saigo sank a tension-packed birdie putt on the 18th hole in regulation to fire a final-round two-over par 74 at Carlton Woods and finish 72 holes on seven-under 281 just to reach the playoff. At the 18th again in the playoff, Saigo sank a four-foot birdie putt to capture the crown after clutch putt misses by her rivals. Saigo, a 23-year-old who was last year's LPGA Rookie of the Year, defeated China's Yin Ruoning, South Korean Kim Hyo-joo, Thailand's Ariya Jutanugarn and American Lindy Duncan in the playoff. "This is like dreaming," Saigo said through a translator. "It was my big dream and goal this year. I still can't believe it." "It means a lot that I made a birdie putt on 18. That gave me more confidence for the playoff," she added. The playoff was at the par-five 18th and Yin reached the green in two by blasting over a water hazard. Saigo and Ariya each went over the green with their second shots, Duncan was short of the green in three and Kim found the green near Yin's ball with her third shot. Ariya and Saigo missed their eagle bids, setting the stage for Yin's eagle attempt to win from about 12 feet. It went eight feet past the hole as tension mounted. Kim missed her birdie putt, Duncan missed a 10-foot par putt and tapped in for bogey, then Yin lipped out a birdie putt and tapped in for par. Ariya lipped out on her eight-foot birdie putt and tapped in for par, leaving Saigo to sink her four-foot birdie for the triumph. Ariya had botched a chip on the 72nd hole in regulation and made a bogey that dropped her into a share of the lead, helping to deny her a third major victory and first in seven years. Yin and Kim each sought a second career major while Duncan settled for her first top-10 major finish. Ariya led by a stroke at the 18th tee in regulation and blasted her second shot from the fairway over the green and off the grandstand. Stunningly, she then miss-hit a chip from the rough that barely moved the ball before sending her fourth shot 15 feet beyond the hole. She missed the comeback attempt and made bogey. That dropped her to seven-under and into a share of the lead with Yin, who birdied the 18th, and Kim in the clubhouse. Saigo and Duncan each needed a birdie at 18 to share the lead. South Korea's Ryu Hae-ran, their playing partner, holed out a chip for the first eagle of the week at 18. Neither Duncan nor Saigo could match her, but each made a birdie putt to reach the playoff. Saigo and South Korea's Ryu shared the lead entering the final round but Ariya, who started three adrift, closed the gap with a birdie at the second hole and an eagle at the par-five fourth. Ryu fell back with four bogeys in the first six holes but Saigo had two birdies and two bogeys in the first eight holes and shared the lead with Ariya at nine-under. Saigo began the back nine with back-to-back bogeys, falling two back, but Ariya made bogey at the par-five 13th that trimmed her lead to one. Duncan shook off a bogey at the par-three 12th with a birdie at 13 and sank a four-foot birdie putt at 14 to grab a share of the lead, but stumbled with bogeys at 15 and 16. (AFP)
RTHK
25-04-2025
- Sport
- RTHK
China's Liu, South Korea's Ryu share LPGA Chevron lead
China's Liu, South Korea's Ryu share LPGA Chevron lead China's Liu Yan's best career tour finish was third at the 2023 ShopRite Classic. File photo: AFP China's Liu Yan and South Korea's Ryu Hae-ran each fired a seven-under par 65 to share the lead in Thursday's storm-suspended opening round of the LPGA Chevron Championship. Both Asian standouts had bogey-free starts for 18 holes at Carlton Woods in the year's first major women's tournament. "My driver was pretty good, pretty solid," Liu said. "Very solid golf today. On the course I'm pretty confident." Ryu made a putter change that has paid dividends. "That was amazing," Ryu said. "I change the putter and more comfortable for my putting this week – this putter is definitely (better). I make a lot of tricky ones and it's really good for me." South Korean Kim Hyo-joo was third on 67 with a pack on 68 including South Korean Choi Hye-jin, American Brooke Matthews, Spain's Carlota Ciganda, Belgium's Manon de Roey and Thailand's Ariya Jutanugarn. Play was suspended by a storm late in the day and halted for good an hour later with 24 players unable to finish their first round until Friday. Among those still on the course, American Lucy Li, who birdied four of the first five holes, was on four-under with four holes remaining. South Korean Chun In-gee was on three-under with two holes to play while Dutchwoman Dewi Weber and Australian Minjee Lee were on two-under, Lee with one hole to play and Weber with three remaining. World number 12 Ryu's three top-10 finishes in majors last year included a fifth-place effort at the Chevron. Ryu, 24, had back-to-back birdies at the second and third as well as the par-three seventh and par-five eighth holes. She opened and closed the back nine with birdies and added another at the par-5 13th. Liu, 27, began playing golf with her mother 15 years ago. She seeks her first LPGA victory and her best career tour finish was third at the 2023 ShopRite Classic. Liu, a 10th-hole starter, birdied the 10th and par-3 12th, then opened and closed her second nine with birdies in addition to reeling off three in a row starting at the par-three third. "I think because my approach shot is pretty good, it's much like long putt," she said. "I had like 16 on the green, so every putt is for birdie, so it was pretty key for today's approach shot." (AFP)
