Ladies’s PGA Championship: Chun In-gee wins third main title – because it occurred | LPGA

Congratulations, then, to Chun In-gee, the 2022 Ladies’s PGA champion! Commiserations in the meantime to Lexi Thompson, who has one more painful major-championship near-miss to course of. If she may rely upon her putter, she’d have a hatful of this stuff. Thanks for studying this weblog. Nighty night time!

-5: Chun In-gee
-4: Minjee Lee, Lexi Thompson
-3: Atthaya Thitikul
-1: Nasa Hataoka, Kim Hyo-joo, Hannah Inexperienced, Kim Sei-young, Choi Hye-jin
E: Lilia Vu, Stephanie Kyriacou, Ji Eun-hee, Jessica Korda, Stephanie Meadow, Jennifer Chang
+1: Lauren Coughlin, Anna Nordqvist, Chella Choi, Jennifer Kupcho, Brooke Henderson
+2: Peiyun Chien, Ashleigh Buhai, Georgia Corridor, Kim In-kyung

That victory means Chun In-gee is now a three-time main champion! She provides the 2022 PGA to the 2015 US Open and the 2016 Evian. She waves to the appreciative crowd and takes possession of the silverware, carrying a heartwarming smile … earlier than dissolving into glad tears. “It simply means rather a lot as a result of I didn’t have any wins for three-and-a-half years, so I actually admire it. My sponsors all the time believed in me. My household and my coach, my caddy, and my followers in Korea, they by no means gave up on me, irrespective of how I did. So thanks very a lot. I actually loved the course, so due to the greenkeepers!”

Chun, all smiles and nervous reduction, is quickly drenched with celebratory water by her compatriot Choi Hye-jin! Beautiful celebrations. She’s embraced warmly by Lexi Thompson, too, who smiles broadly whereas providing congratulations. Chun’s win is genuinely-earned, having led this event practically all week after that opening day 64, solely to just about give it away down the closing stretch final night time and the entrance 9 this afternoon. However she gathered herself. Having regrouped, she landed the killer blow with birdie on 16, as her enjoying associate Thompson self-destructed, her putter letting her down but once more. Spare a thought for poor Lexi, who has a a number of major-winning expertise, however stays caught on one.

Chun In-gee wins the 2022 Ladies’s PGA Championship!

Lexi Thompson’s birdie effort is all the time dying off to the best. She by no means hit it. However she gave it sufficient {that a} tap-in for par isn’t an issue. She finishes with a 73, at -4 general. That leaves Chun In-gee with a five-foot right-to-left slider for her third main title! If she doesn’t make it, she’ll go right into a play-off with Thompson and Minjee Lee.

Earlier than Lexi can line up her birdie putt, Choi Hye-jin snaps a three-bogey run by draining a valedictory 40-foot birdie putt! She indicators for a disappointing closing spherical of 76, however not less than she’s ended the week in purple figures at -1.

The stress across the 18th inexperienced is sort of insufferable. What a dramatic closing spherical this has been! Chun sizes up her lengthy, downhill, left-to-right breaker over a ridge … and makes a reasonably good job of it, the ball by no means wanting like dropping, however rolling serenely six ft by. A really great distance for a gimme, however from the place she’d discovered herself, a reasonably good outcome.

Chun hits her strategy slightly skinny, sending it longer than desired. It lands on the inexperienced however takes an enormous spring off a downslope and topples one roll into the perimeter. She’ll have a protracted two putts for par. Nothing sure there. Thompson in the meantime can have an amazing take a look at birdie. She’s rather more reliable from this type of distance, it’s the brief ones she’s not so keen on. So mainly, something may occur. With this in thoughts, Minjee Lee is hanging round to see what’s what.

Seems Chun’s drive has certainly ended up in a divot, albeit a shallow one. The NBC commentary workforce evaluate it to the one Scottie Scheffler discovered on the opening gap at Brookline this time final week, from which he went on to make birdie. In the meantime Lexi’s lie isn’t terrible. She’s 154 yards from the pin, and opts to not die questioning. She goes straight for the flag and for a second worries that she’s pulled her ball into the water on the left. However in reality it’s nearly good! She lands pin excessive, and can take a look on the birdie she nearly absolutely requires from 15 ft. Over to Chun.

One lengthy, clean swing, and Chun In-gee sends her tee shot down the center of 18. Her ball thinks about nestling in a divot however stays sort. Lexi Thompson, the jig nearly up, pushes into tough down the best.

… pushes her brief par putt extensive proper. It by no means seemed like dropping, even from such a brief distance. That is starting to look as if Thompson’s shaky placing goes to value the in any other case sensible Floridian one more main. What a restoration by Chun, although, after the poisonous shock of that front-nine 40.

-5: Chun (17)
-4: Lee (F), Thompson (17)
-3: Thitikul (F)

Thompson and Chun could also be placing from related distances, however that’s all. Chun has a reasonably straight putt; Thompson’s breaks left to proper over a ridge. Not the type of really feel putt you need with the flat stick misbehaving, as hers so typically does. In reality, she practically steers it in beautifully, however the ball shaves the left-hand edge and rolls 4 ft previous. The door swings ajar for Chun, who has a a lot simpler left-to-right slider uphill … however she doesn’t hit it. She faucets in for par. In the meantime on 18, Atthaya Thitikul’s birdie effort drifts previous, and she or he indicators for a 72, ending the week at -3. Over to Lexi, who …

On Sky Sports activities, Dame Laura Davies has simply described the chip that Thompson shovelled over the sixteenth inexperienced as one thing an 18-handicapper would do. It was a significantly angular, uncoordinated effort, that’s for certain, the product of a thoughts addled by the pressures of a significant championship on Sunday. Chun cranks up the strain by wedging her second into 17 to 12 ft … so hats off to Thompson, who clears her head and responds marvellously with an strategy to an analogous distance. Two large putts for probably decisive birdie developing!

Chun easily lotions her drive at 17 down the center. Thompson follows her, ending 30 yards previous. Each of those gamers have loved probably decisive leads, solely to seek out themselves neck and neck happening the stretch. Good luck calling it.

Thompson settles herself to tidy up for bogey. In the meantime Thitikul pours her birdie putt at 17 into the centre of the cup, and this actually is all to play for now. Main championship Sunday, girls and gents!

-5: Thompson (16), Chun (16)
-4: Lee (F)
-3: Thitikul (17)

Thompson elects to putt up from the underside of the swale. There’s extra financial institution than inexperienced to cowl, and she or he misjudges horribly, sending her putt racing 15 ft previous. The one coming again by no means seems to be like dropping, and rolls three ft previous. Then Chun, who has been ready patiently whereas her companions faff round, rolls in her uphill birdie putt, and she or he’ll have a share of the lead on the very least!

Choi significantly overcooks her wedge coming again and is lucky that her ball skims the flagstick, taking away loads of the tempo. It nonetheless topples off the perimeter on the entrance. She stabs the putt coming again to kick-in distance, however that’s a 3rd bogey in 4 holes, and she or he’s -1. In the meantime the 19-year-old Thai, Atthaya Thitikul, isn’t out of this but. Having made birdie at 16, she sends her second into 17 to eight ft, and can take a look at a birdie that can take her to -3!

… however Lee may even be dreaming of a play-off. The prospect of that turns into slightly extra seemingly on 16, the place Chun wedges to 6 ft, whereas Choi flies her bunker shot, all ball, no sand, over the inexperienced. In the meantime Thompson hits a scorching wedge over the inexperienced and down a swale to the left! Drama growing right here!

Minjee Lee tidies up for her birdie on 18, and that’s a closing spherical of 70. The US Open champion units a brand new clubhouse goal of -4, and she or he’ll be regretting that wholly pointless three-putt bogey on 17.

-6: Thompson (15)
-4: Lee (F), Chun (15)
-2: Thitkul (16), Choi (15)

No person within the closing group reaches the par-five sixteenth in two. Chun down the left of the golf green, Thompson over on the best, Choi in greenside sand. Some large up and downs developing!

Minjee Lee crashes her tee shot down 18 and practically finds one other divot. Her ball performs properly this time, permitting her to screech her strategy to 3 ft. She’ll be posting a brand new clubhouse lead in a few minutes, someway.

… after which on 17, Minjee Lee’s birdie putt breaks dramatically to the best. She’s left with a tough three footer to avoid wasting her par … and she will be able to’t make it. It horseshoes out, and what a large couple of minutes it’s been for Lexi Thompson! That elusive second main so shut now!

-6: Thompson (15)
-4: Chun (15)
-3: Lee (17)
-2: Choi (15)

Chun’s flip. She stabs a flop to 3 ft. However earlier than she will be able to tidy up for par, Thompson putts from the perimeter. A reasonably straight 12-footer … and in it goes! From the ridiculous to the chic, and that’s an enormous bounceback birdie! What moxie after the egregious miss on the earlier inexperienced. That cranks up the strain on Chun, who pulls her putter again and … steps out of the shot, the wind having picked up immediately. As if the putt, nearly a can’t miss, isn’t arduous sufficient in these circumstances! However she gathers herself and pops it in to avoid wasting par.

Choi nearly whiffs her chip from the thick tough on 15. Take two is sort of a hole-out. She faucets in for a bogey that drops her again to -2, and wears the look of somebody who suspects the jig is up.

Choi and Chun each fly the fifteenth inexperienced, like Lee and Kupcho earlier than them. Each will face tough chips again from the cabbage, with little inexperienced to play with. Thompson goes off the again as nicely, however solely by one bounce, her wedge practically screeching to a halt on the dancefloor. Not perfect, however higher than her two enjoying companions. In the meantime on 17, Lee’s drive finds a divot, however she’s in a position to swish into the guts of the inexperienced anyway, from the place she’ll have an uphill take a look at birdie from 20 ft.

… oh my. Lexi pulls the brief par putt to the left, straight off the bat. The ball doesn’t even shave the lip. Might the yips do for her once more? That’s a painful bogey, and she or he wouldn’t be human if she hasn’t simply began considering of that collapse at Olympic within the US Open final 12 months. In the meantime on 16, Lee rolls her eagle putt to a few inches and tidies up for birdie! The brand new US Open champ walks off smiling extensively, and this leaderboard immediately seems to be very totally different.

-5: Thompson (14)
-4: Lee (16), Chun (14)
-3: Choi (14)
-2: SY Kim (14)

Chun very practically drains a monster on 14! An enormous left-to-right breaker from 50 ft, up and over a ridge, stops one flip brief. So near a birdie that may have despatched a shudder down Thompson’s backbone! She stays at -4 and now Thompson will take a look at birdie of her personal from a way more practical 20 ft. The chief leaves it a pair brief, and …

The Dinah Shore champion Jennifer Kupcho had been hovering, 4 off the lead. However she will be able to’t stand up and down from the Minjee Lee Bunker at 15, and she or he slips again to -1, out of rivalry as she runs out of time.

Hye-jin Choi is certain to make a bounceback birdie on 13. She makes use of the camber behind the 14th inexperienced to assemble her ball again to kick-in distance. That’ll return her to -3, and she or he’s not out of this but. Additionally not out of this, in no way, is Minjee Lee. She pearls her second into the par-five sixteenth, the ball taking a few bounces and practically rolling in for albatross! The ball sails a few inches extensive to the left, however she’ll take a look at eagle from 15 ft!

A few drama-free two-putt pars on 13 for Thompson and Chun. No par for Choi, nevertheless. She wedges delicately to 5 ft, however prods on the par putt in a particularly tentative method, and the 22-year-old South Korean, coming off the again of a third-place end on the US Open three weeks in the past, slips to -2. However what an up and down for Lee on 15! She splashes out of the sand, shortsided from a downhill lie, limiting the roll previous the outlet to 4 ft. It’s inconceivable that she may do any higher, and she or he nails the one coming again.

-6: Thompson (13)
-4: Chun (13)
-3: Lee (15)

The early clubhouse chief is Nasa Hataoka. The 23-year-old from Japan has already come shut in a few majors, dropping play-offs on the 2018 PGA to Park Sung-hyun and final 12 months’s US Open to Yuka Saso. Three birdies in her final six holes units the seal on a closing spherical of 69, and she or he ends the week at -1 general.

Some bother for Minjee Lee on 15. Her strategy takes a tough bounce on the apron of the inexperienced, and flies hysterically right into a bunker on the again. She’ll be shortsided from there, and on a downhill slope besides. Again on the par-three thirteenth, the chief Lexi Thompson and Chun In-gee each discover the inexperienced safely, however Choi Hye-jin sends her hybrid into thick tough to the best.

Thompson’s par putt is all the time destined to remain excessive on the left. Bogey, solely her second on the again 9 all week. What a time to change that specific stat. Nevertheless it’s not as pricey because it may very well be, Chun’s brief putt horseshoeing out. She arms again the shot she picked up at 11 within the shortest of orders. Par in the meantime for the third member of the ultimate group, Hye-jin Choi, who practically drains a 30-footer for birdie and is hanging on in there.

-6: Thompson (12)
-4: Chun (12)
-3: Lee (14), Choi (12)

The wind’s working towards Thompson as nicely, coming in from behind, making it even more durable to cease her ball wherever close to the outlet. She does very nicely to land it in entrance of the pin, however can’t cease it rolling 20 ft previous. Chun’s try and lag her first putt to kick-in distance is a wee bit overcooked, leaving a three-foot check coming again. In the meantime one other par for Minjee Lee, this time at 14. She seems to be within the temper to set a goal that can give the main pair pause for thought as they head residence.

Thompson takes a courageous line into 12, in direction of a pin tucked in behind a giant bunker on the left. She fires her iron straight as an arrow, however sadly it’s approach in need of the goal, and lands in one of many sand traps. She’ll be left with a tough third over one other miles of sand, and with out an excessive amount of inexperienced to play with. Chun, in basic matchplay model, sends her strategy alongside a way more conservative line, into the meat of the inexperienced, nowhere close to the sand, however not notably close to the pin both.

Kim Sei-young is having a shocker. It’s now three consecutive bogeys, 4 in 5 holes, as she three-putts 12. That is arduous to observe, as she leaves a protracted birdie effort three ft brief, then shoves the par try 5 ft previous! She does extraordinarily nicely to compose herself and make the bogey putt, thus avoiding the ignominy of a four-putt double bogey. However having bought as excessive as -6 this afternoon, she’s fallen all the way in which right down to -2, and with some velocity. Having immediately her mojo, you’d must say the 2020 champion’s race is run.

Chun In-gee makes her first birdie in 15 holes! And the way she wanted it. She finds the par-five eleventh in regulation, then rams a 20-foot gained’t-die-wondering birdie effort into the again of the cup. That’s a powerful response to an terrible entrance 9, although she stays two off the lead, as a result of Lexi Thompson, having practically discovered the inexperienced in two, wedges to 6 ft and makes her birdie putt.

-7: Thompson (11)
-5: Chun (11)
-3: Lee (13), Choi (11), Kim (11)

Minjee Lee retains issues going properly on the par-three thirteenth. An extended rake at birdie breaks six ft to the best, and she or he’s left with a testing putt to avoid wasting her par. However she pours it into the center of the cup to stay within the group at -3.

Nothing a lot had been going proper for Brooke Henderson at present. Bogeys at 1, 9 and 10 toppled her down the standings to stage par. However she’s bounced again at 12 by draining a monster to return to -1. Jennifer Chang nevertheless drops one, the punishment for a dismal wedge from the perimeter; she’s -2. In the meantime up on 18, Jeongeun Lee5 – to not be confused with 2019 US Open winner Jeongeun Lee6 – holes out from 100 yards on 18 for a closing eagle. She indicators for a 74, ending the week at +3, and that can have earned a number of bonus pennies.

Kim Sei-young goes backwards at tempo. A careless three-putt bogey on the par-five eleventh, her third in 4 holes, sends the 2020 champion again to -3.

The ultimate trio reply by shortly sending away their tee pictures on the downhill par-three tenth. Choi dunks right into a bunker to the left. Thompson and Chun discover the inexperienced, however neither are notably shut. Choi can’t stand up and down. She slips again to -3. Thompson leaves her lengthy first putt 4 ft brief, the type of distance that’s been so troublesome for her over time. However she pops in a high quality saver. A fuss-free two-putt par for Chun. In the meantime all will probably be cautious of the presence of the brand new US Open champion Minjee Lee, who having began chilly with bogeys at 1 and a pair of, has since birdied 5, 9 and now 11 to maneuver into critical rivalry.

-6: Thompson (10)
-4: Kim (10), Chun (9)
-3: Lee (12), Chang (11), Choi (10)

The ultimate group of Lexi Thompson, Chun In-gee and Choi Hye-jin have been placed on the clock. They’d fallen greater than a gap behind the penultimate group, and having been ordered to shut the hole solely to fail to take action, will now must get a wriggle on. They took two hours and 50 minutes to play the entrance 9! Say no to sluggish play, children. Simply step up and fireplace. That strategy didn’t do Matt Fitzpatrick any hurt at Brookline final week.

Bogey at 10 for Kim Sei-young, the winner of this event at Aronimink in 2020. That’s her second dropped shot in three holes, and having briefly troubled Thompson within the lead after birdie on 3, she slips to -4. In the meantime again on 9, Chun – who led by seven after three holes yesterday – makes a three-putt bogey. Yet one more shot gone, and she or he hits the flip in 40 strokes. Nonetheless, she walks off smiling bravely, and could also be feeling slightly higher as Thompson’s brief, straight birdie putt lips out. Thompson has a two-shot lead however it actually ought to be three. She’s a tad extra pensive as she departs the scene.

-6: Thompson (9)
-4: Kim (10), Choi (9), Chun (9)

Lexi clearly isn’t mulling over final 12 months’s US Open capitulation at Olympic Membership! She powers a wedge out of the thick stuff into the guts of the inexperienced, making use of the ridge operating throughout it to deliver her ball again to 6 ft. That’s fairly sensational from the place she was, and she or he’ll have take a look at her third birdie of the day. It stays astonishing that the 27-year-old Floridian hasn’t added to her one main so far, the 2014 Dinah Shore. Fifteen top-ten finishes since then. Sixteenth time fortunate? She seems to be within the temper, however then we mentioned that at Olympic and look what occurred there.

A little bit of bother for the chief Lexi Thompson on the par-five ninth. From the centre of the golf green, she sends her second into thick tough down the best. The final time Lexi led a significant on Sunday afternoon? Oh no. We are able to go there, however let’s hope she hasn’t.

Georgia Corridor had been making a too-little-too-late sprint up the leaderboard. Having began her day on 10 at +2, and bogeyed 14, she then birdied 15, 17, 18 and 4 to make it into the highest ten at -1. However a double bogey at 7 has despatched the 2018 British Open champion again down the standings to +1.

It didn’t take lengthy at present earlier than change was afoot on the prime of the leaderboard. Chun In-gee’s benefit was whittled away in brief order, as she bogeyed 2 whereas Lexi Thompson birdied 1 and three. Chun dropped one other stroke at 6, and impulsively she discovered herself two behind Thompson. The brand new chief handed a stroke again at 7, although, Thompson’s first bogey in 21 holes. A much-needed momentum changer for Chun? We’ll discover out quickly sufficient. Right here we go!

-6: Thompson (7)
-5: Kim (8), Chun (7)
-4: Choi (7)
-3: Chang (9)
-2: Lee (10), Inexperienced (8)
-1: Corridor (15*), Nordqvist (11), Kupcho (9), Henderson (9), Thitikul (8)

Earlier than we get going … a reminder of how this title was determined final 12 months.

Preamble