BELLEIRE, Fla. (AP) — Sweden's Lynn Grant controlled her game so well that she played 52 straight holes without bogey, a streak that ended on the final hole Sunday when it no longer mattered. She closed with a 5-under 65 for a three-stroke victory over Jennifer Kupcho at Annika.
It was Grant's second LPGA title and the second time she received the trophy from the great Swedish tournament host Annika Sorenstam. Grant won the Nordic mixed doubles in Sweden with Sorenstam and Henrik Stenson as co-hosts.
“You made this course look easy. It's not easy,” Sorenstam told her on the 18th green.
This must have been how Grant, who had never experienced much stress, must have felt. She finished with a 19-under 261 and had a chance to tie the tournament record until a bogey appeared on the final hole, her first since her first hole on Friday.
“There are weeks where everyone feels like their game is really good and there could potentially be a win. It's just really nice to see it go all the way, to actually get away from 18, to be able to pat myself on the back and feel like I actually made it this week,” Grant said.
She is the first Swedish winner of the tournament, which began in 2020, which is even more important to Grant because she remembers attending Sorenstam's clinics in Sweden as a child and remembers Sorenstam hitting wedges to someone catching them with a baseball glove.
“I started doing this with my dad, so thanks for that,” Grant told Sorenstam.
Kupcho birdied the first hole to take the lead, but not for long. Grant birdied the next hole and never played again. The Swede had to make a 15-foot birdie putt to stay ahead for five holes and then took control on the par-3 ninth.
Kupcho made her second bogey on the front nine and Grant hit a 10-foot birdie putt to extend the lead to three shots. No one came any closer the rest of the way.
Kupcho also closed with a 65.
“I'm glad she played well because I think it really pushed me to play better,” Grant said. “And overall, I just thought whoever wins will get a really good job.”
Mexico's Gaby Lopez birdied four of her final six holes for a 65 to finish third.
Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., finished tied for 26th at 7 under, 12 shots behind the winner.
Brooke Matthews also emerged victorious in two ways. She made a hole-in-one with a 9-iron from 140 yards on the 12th hole to win a two-year lease in a Lamborghini Huracán. Two holes later, Matthews made the bet on Eagle, and all those great shots made the difference.
This added to the 65 – a card that included scores of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 – to tie for ninth place, giving her enough points to place among the top 60 in the race for the CME Globe. That qualifies her for the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship next week, where the winner will receive $4 million.
“It was wild,” Matthews said. “I've been saying all week, 'I want to win a Lamborghini.' … I just saw him jump. I still can't believe it. I fainted. I can't wait to see it on film because I still can't remember it.”
Natalia Guseva had her big moment. She holed out from 109 yards on the final hole for Birdie (she had to get out of a fairway bunker), giving her a 68 that put the Russian in the top 60.
Lucy Lee will also be heading to the Naples coastline next week. Her birdie on the final hole gave her a 66 and moved her up 13 spots to 58th.
Grant has been running out of time to extend her annual winning streak anywhere in the world, dating back to 2020 when she was still an amateur and won twice in the Scandinavian Golf League. She has won titles on the LPGA, Ladies European Tour, LET Access Series, Ladies Sunshine Tour, Nordic Golf League and even the European Tour, which co-sanctions Scandinavian mixed doubles.
“My father is a man of good words,” she said. “When he looked at someone else's career, he would always say, 'If you win every year, that's pretty solid.' I think that's what it is.
Defending champion Nellie Korda, a three-time winner at Pelican Golf Club, started six shots late and was unable to keep up with Grand. She closed with a 69 to finish in 15th place.
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