The Dow Championship, the only team tournament on the official LPGA calendar, experienced a thrilling conclusion that ended with a Korean flavour. The pair formed by Somi Lee and Im Jin Hee claimed the title after defeating the American duo of Lexi Thompson and Megan Khang in a playoff, thus denying Thompson her first victory in six years.
The resolution came on the first hole of the playoff, played in foursomes format. The Koreans had just holed the ultimately winning putt from just over two metres. Lee did not falter and holed the birdie. Megan Khang had the chance to extend the playoff, but her one and a half metre birdie attempt went below the hole from the start. “A shame to miss that last putt in the playoff, but I’m very happy with how we played,” Khang acknowledged after the defeat.
The American pair had completed a perfect final round with 60 strokes (-10) in the fourballs format, which allowed them to be the first to set the bar at -20 total. At that moment, everything pointed to a possible triumph for Thompson, who hasn’t lifted a trophy since the ShopRite LPGA Classic of 2019. Since announcing last summer that she would no longer compete full-time, this was only her eighth tournament of the year.
But the South Korean duo had other plans. Somi Lee holed a three-metre putt for birdie on the 17th to tie the lead. Although both had chances to close the tournament on the 18th in the 72 regulation holes, their putts didn’t drop… and the title was decided in the playoff.
With this victory, Lee and Im achieve their first joint win in the United States. Both are in their second season on the LPGA, although they already arrived with a brilliant record on the KLPGA: six titles for Im and five for Lee. “I can’t believe it,” exclaimed Somi Lee after holing the winning putt.
Behind them, the duo formed by Lindy Duncan and Miranda Wang posted the best round on Sunday with 59 strokes, which allowed them to tie for third place alongside Manon De Roey and Pauline Roussin-Bouchard (64).
The leaders after 54 holes, Albane Valenzuela and Sarah Schmelzel, posted a final round of 66 strokes, but faded in the final stretch by not securing any birdies in the last seven holes. They finished fifth, three strokes off the playoff.
Carlota Ciganda and Gaby López (-12) bid farewell in Michigan in style. The Hispanic duo delivered a final card of 61 strokes to break into the top 30 of the tournament after a Saturday that had left them without aspirations for victory.
