A five-way playoff—the largest in LPGA major championship history—was needed to decide the Chevron Championship. 

Ariya Jutanugarn, though, could have won it in regulation if not for a baffling whiffed chip. 

MORE: Chevron Championship results, payouts

Leading by a stroke on the 72nd hole, the 29-year-old Thai faced a chip from the greenside rough for her third shot on the Club at Carlton Woods’s closing par-5. Then, with a tough lie, she barely advanced the ball en route to make a bogey. That dropped her to 7 under, tied with fellow major champions Hyo Joo Kim and Ruoning Yin. 

In the group behind, Mao Saigo and Lindy Duncan made birdie, joining the playoff. 

And after a wild sequence on the putting surface, Saigo emerged victorious for her maiden LPGA title. 

In the playoff, Yin would hit the shot of a lifetime, and it appeared she was on the brink of claiming her second major win. 

The 22-year-old from China knocked her second shot to a little over 10 feet, but missed her eagle putt and then her comebacker lipped out. 

Jutanugarn had a chance for redemption, but missed her mid-range birdie putt lipped out, too. Meanwhile, Kim, a 29-year-old Korean, also missed a birdie putt and Duncan, a 34-year-old American looking for her first win, made bogey. 

Saigo, a 23-year-old from Japan, is the reigning LPGA Rookie of the Year and entered the week ranked No. 37 in the world rankings. 

Now, after several missed opportunities from her competitors, she’s forever etched in LPGA lore as a major champion.


This article was originally published on www.si.com as Mao Saigo Wins LPGA Chevron Championship in Historic, Wild Five-Way Playoff.

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