Miami (AFP) – Sweden’s Linn Grant fired a five-under par 65 on Sunday to win the LPGA Annika at Pelican title by three strokes over American Jennifer Kupcho. Grant finished 72 holes at the Belleair, Florida, resort on 19-under 261 to become the first Swede to win the event named for Swedish LPGA legend Annika Sorenstam.
“Very satisfying,” Grant said. “I mean, we were talking about what a full circle it is, just to win anything, but to stand here and win her tournament.” Grant, 26, captured her only prior LPGA title in 2023 at Toledo but has taken six triumphs on the Ladies European Tour. She became the 29th different winner of an LPGA event this season and the fourth Swede.
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Grant led Kupcho by a stroke entering the final round and birdied the second, fifth, par-five seventh, and par-three ninth holes to make the turn with a three-stroke lead over Kupcho, who made four birdies and two bogeys on the front nine.
“Especially on the first nine, we were going back and forth,” Grant said. “I’m glad she was playing well because that really pushed me to play better.” World number 53 Grant birdied the par-five 14th and 40th-ranked Kupcho answered with a birdie at the par-three 15th, pulling within three with three to play. Grant birdied the par-four 17th and had a comfortable enough margin to bogey 18, her first bogey since her opening hole on Friday, and still make a relaxed tap-in for the title.
Mexico’s Gaby Lopez was third on 265 after a closing 65. England’s Charley Hull fired a 63 to share fourth on 266 with Americans Auston Kim and Lucy Li.
American Brooke Matthews made a hole-in-one at the 140-yard par-three 12th hole with a nine-iron. She shot 65 to finish on 268 for the first ace of her life. “That was wild,” she said. “I just saw it bounce and disappear. I still can’t believe it. I blacked out.”
© 2024 AFP
