Kupcho seals first LPGA major with Chevron Championship win

Jennifer Kupcho

LOS ANGELES (AFP): Jennifer Kupcho held her nerve to clinch the first LPGA Tour victory of her career on Sunday, winning the Chevron Championship after firing a closing two-over-par 74 in the California desert.

The 24-year-old from Colorado, who led by six shots after a blistering eight-under-par 64 in Saturday’s third round, shrugged off a wobble on the back nine to complete a deserved victory in the opening major of the season.

Kupcho finished on 14 under par for the tournament, two shots clear of Jessica Korda, who carded a closing 69 for a 12-under-par aggregate of 276.

Slovenian teenager Pia Babnik, just 18, finished third after a closing six-under-par 66 to finish on 11 under.

Japan’s Hinako Shibuno, France’s Celine Boutier, US star Lexi Thompson and 2021 champion Patty Tavatanakit were tied for fourth on 10 under.

Kupcho celebrated her triumph with the traditional winner’s leap into “Poppie’s Pond”, the water hazard that surrounds the 18th green at Mission Hills Country Club.

The former amateur world number one, who turned professional before the 2019 season, is the last winner of the Chevron Championship in its California home.

The win confirms Kupcho as one of the brightest talents in women’s golf and comes only three years after she won the Augusta National Women’s Amateur title in 2019.