Kupcho’s first major title is richly deserved. Yesterday’s best-of-week 64 may have been the deciding factor, but her response to that slight wobble on the back nine today was, in its own way, nearly as impressive. Just as it looked as though Jessica Korda might reel her in, a seven-stroke lead having been whittled down to two, Kupcho played the 15th to perfection, making a ship-steadying birdie, after which she never looked in danger. She now files the 2022 Dinah Shore alongside her 2019 Augusta National title, and furthermore has made history as the last player to make the famous jump into Poppie’s Pond. A fair chance she’ll be making plenty more leaps forward in the next few years. Thanks for reading this hole-by-hole report. Nighty night!
-14: Kupcho
-12: Korda
-11: Babnik
-10: Shibuno, Boutier, Thompson, Tavatanakit
-8: Lee, Green, Koerstz Madsen, HJ Kim
-7: M Lee
-6: Hall, O’Toole, Sagstrom, Henderson
Updated
Kupcho, having dotted the Is and crossed the Ts on her scorecard, arrives back on 18 for the prize-giving ceremony. Melissa Montgomery, the daughter of the tournament founder Dinah Shore, arrives to great acclaim. Then there’s some corporate bumf from the Chevron guy. And finally our new champion is awarded the Dinah Shore Trophy. She hoists it in the air, before offering Montgomery a handle. Pictures, then another chat with NBC. “I’ve been so close a couple of times. It’s really hard, but here I am.” Then she takes the last leap into Poppie’s Pond with husband and caddy. As she sails through the air towards the briny, a grin nearly as wide as the pond and warm as the desert sun flashes across her face. A moment to savour, right there.
A quick word with NBC. “Oh man! I’m still shaking. It was so fun to be out there. It’s a lot of hard work!” She goes off to check her scorecard. Speaking of which ...
-14: Kupcho
-12: Korda
-11: Babnik
-10: Shibuno, Boutier, Thompson, Tavatanakit
-8: Lee, Green, Koerstz Madsen, HJ Kim
-7: M Lee
-6: Hall, O’Toole, Sagstrom, Henderson
Jennifer Kupcho wins the 2022 Chevron Championship!
She can’t make the par putt, but it really doesn’t make any difference. She taps in for bogey, a final round of 74, and she’s now a major winner as well as a champion of Augusta National! Her husband, of one whole month, arrives for a hug. She’s sprayed with champagne. It’s emotional!
Kupcho can’t make her birdie putt, like it really matters. The ball rolls four feet past. Before the clinching moment, Tavatanakit takes her eagle putt. Nothing’s dropped for her all day, and this one doesn’t either. She settles for birdie, a final round of 72, and a share of fourth. That’s a fine defence of her title.
Kupcho sends a wedge in from 100 yards. Over the drink and onto the green. She can enjoy the walk now! She’s about to become the last winner of the Dinah Shore at Mission Hills ... and the last woman to take that celebratory leap into Poppie’s Pond!
Kupcho, who has taken nothing for granted all day, keeping her emotions in check, finally allows herself a broad smile as she saunters down the middle of the 18th fairway. She’s so close now, and knows the deal is as good as done. She lays up in front of the water with her second. The ball only just avoids a huge divot. That might have jangled a few nerves! Meanwhile Tavatanakit decides to go out with a bang, whip-cracking a fairway wood over the water and into the heart of the green, the ball rolling towards the flag, coming to rest eight feet past the pin. One of the shots of the day!
The biggest tee shot of Jennifer Kupcho’s life coming up! Outgoing champion Patty Tavatanakit shows her the way, splitting the 18th fairway. Kupcho absolutely stripes it! A pretty good chance she’ll be laying up with her second ... not least because up on the green, Jessica Korda’s putt breaks weakly to the right, and that’s par and a final round of 69. She ends the week at -12, currently in second place on her own.
-15: Kupcho (17)
-12: J Korda (F)
-11: Babnik (F)
-10: Shibuno (F), Boutier (F), Thompson (F)
-9: Tavatanakit (17)
Kupcho rolls in her missable bogey putt, and limits the damage. The lead is just three. Korda meanwhile reaches the 18th green, where she’ll have to make her birdie putt to apply any sort of pressure on Kupcho.
-15: Kupcho (17)
-12: Korda (17)
-11: Babnik (F)
Kupcho’s par putt has plenty of left-to-right break. It lips out, and rolls a good three feet past the hole. Still work to do for bogey. Par for Tavatanakit meanwhile. And up on 18, Korda swishes a sand wedge straight at the flag, leaving a fairly straight 12-footer for birdie.
Kupcho makes a mess of another tee shot at a par-three, shoving her iron at 17 well wide right of the green. She’s shortsided, chipping onto a downward sloping green. She opts to lob over the flag, leaving an uphill putt for par. Smart play, given her four-stroke lead. Up on 18, meanwhile, it’s crunch time for Korda, who has boomed her tee shot down the middle. She’s hunting an eagle ... but doesn’t fancy holding the green with any of the clubs in her bag, so lays up instead.
Lexi Thompson holes a tramliner on 18 for one of the biggest cheers of the day! A birdie and a joint best--of-day 66. She ends the week at -10. Plenty of highs and lows for Lexi at Mission Hills - her 2014 win, that four-stroke penalty in 2017 - so it’s good to see her go out with a bang ... and a huge smile on her face. She deserves it, having contributed so much to the history here.
Kupcho lags her long birdie putt on 16 to kick-in distance and she’s one hole closer to Poppie’s Pond. A par for Korda at 17. The look on her face suggests she knows full well her race is run. And back on 16, another lip-out for Tavatanakit, whose putter has misbehaved all day. Another bogey, and she slips to -9.
Kupcho and Tavatanakit have been put on the clock, though it doesn’t appear to have sped either of them up. It’s tough to pick fault with a maiden major on the line. Kupcho splits the fairway at 16, takes a while to consider her wedge, and finds the centre of the green. No pin-seeking heroics.
Kupcho’s birdie putt drops, and suddenly she’s four in the lead again. Bogey for Tavatanakit meanwhile, and though Korda fires her second at 16 from deep cabbage to ten feet, she can’t make the birdie putt. She got to within two for a fleeting moment, but this is beginning to look a done deal now.
-16: Kupcho (15)
-12: J Korda (16)
-11: Babnik (F)
-10: Shibuno (F), Boutier (F), Tavatanakit (15)
Yep, it’s going Kupcho’s way again all right! She sends her second at 15 straight at the flag, her ball coming to a screeching halt two feet from the cup. That’s an almost certain birdie. This is a brilliant response to those back-to-back bogeys. A textbook example in seizing the day!
Kupcho’s heart must be barrelling along ten to the dozen, but she betrays no nerves as she blooters a wonderful tee shot down the track at 15. Tavatanakit sends her drive into thick nonsense down the left. This one’s just a gouge and hope. She can only advance the ball into the bunker at the front of the green. Meanwhile up on 16, Korda pulls her tee shot into cabbage on the left, and immediately grabs the small of her back. She tells her caddy she’s struggling to swing properly. This is all suddenly turning back in Kupcho’s favour after a rocky period during which it all threatened to go south!
Kupcho shoves her putt, missing it on the right and racing it three feet past the hole. She nails the one coming back, but that’s back-to-back bogeys, and three dropped shots since the turn. The lead is down to two. How quickly things can change on the back nine on Sunday ... and as if to further illustrate that, Korda fails to get up and down from the sand on 15, missing a three-footer after a fine sand splash. The lead’s back to three! Major championship golf, ladies and gentlemen!
-15: Kupcho (14)
-12: J Korda (15)
-11: Babnik (F), Tavatanakit (14)
Kupcho is getting a little ragged here. The nerves may well be kicking in. She doesn’t get any bite on her chip and the ball scuttles eight feet past the hole. Another big par putt coming up. Tavatanakit meanwhile leaves her birdie putt short and makes do with yet another par. Her flat stick is stone cold.
Hmm. This is getting interesting. At the 122-yard par-three 14th, Kupcho pulls a wedge so badly she loses it in the afternoon sun. She spins around in confusion. It’s well short of the green and wide left. Tavatanakit meanwhile sends her tee shot over the flag and will have a look at birdie from 12 feet. Some good news for Kupcho: Korda is in a bit of trouble in a greenside bunker at 15.
Kupcho’s par putt horseshoes out, and all of a sudden her lead is back down to three. She was seven ahead at one point earlier today. Plenty to think about with a cheeky short par-three coming up.
-16: Kupcho (13)
-13: J Korda (14)
-11: Babnik (F), Tavatanakit (13)
Kupcho is left with a downhill 15-footer. She only just taps it, but the ball keeps on rolling, six feet past the hole. Tavatanakit has a much more makeable chance, uphill from eight feet. She pulls it left, the ball never threatening to drop. Yet another chance to close some of the gap sails by. Tavatanakit’s putter really has let her down today.
Korda is running out of holes. She dribbles a 30-foot birdie putt down the green at 14. It’s always breaking right. She remains at -13, four off Kupcho’s lead. Kupcho and Tavatanakit, meanwhile, are both on 13 in regulation and will have looks at birdie.
Kupcho putts from the fringe. She seriously undercooks the uphill 40-footer and leaves plenty of work for par. Tavatanakit responds by gently whipping her bunker shot to kick-in distance. That’s a fine up and down from an extremely awkward spot near the lip of the bunker. She escapes with par ... as does the amazing Kupcho, who rolls her rock into the cup from 12 feet to salvage that situation and maintain her four-shot lead!
-17: Kupcho (12)
-13: J Korda (13)
-11: Babnik (F), Tavatanakit (12)
-10: Shibuno (F), Boutier (F)
Kupcho doesn’t quite catch her second from the rough down the right of 12. For a second, it looks as though her ball is going to snaggle in thick greenside rough, but it creeps onto the apron. Tavatanakit’s wedge is wilder, though, and she’s in sandy bother with an uphill lie. Meanwhile up on 18, Pia Babnik sends her approach to six feet and rolls in a confident putt. The 18-year-old Slovenian signs for a best-of-day equalling 66 and is the new clubhouse leader at -11!
Updated
Birdie for Celine Boutier on 18, and the French star signs for a final round of 67. She joins Hinako Shibuno at -10, taking a share of the clubhouse lead. Back at 12, Kupcho flays her drive into deep oomska down the right ... and she’s followed in there by Tavatanakit. Still plenty going on here.
Kupcho rolls a perfectly weighted putt straight into the hole! Just enough pace to drop. Not a joule to spare. A birdie, and that’s huge after dropping those shots at 8 and 10. Tavatanakit sends a weak putt wide left, and that’s a big double blow for the defending champion. Adding insult to injury, Jessica Korda rakes in a long birdie putt from the back of 12 to stay on the leader’s tail.
-17: Kupcho (11)
-13: J Korda (12)
-11: Tavatanakit (11)
Kupcho’s third at 11 trundles 15 feet past. Tavatanakit whips a lob wedge miles into the air, taking out the bunker and landing her ball softly eight feet away. Both players will have a decent look at birdie. A couple of big putts coming up!
Updated
Kupcho does indeed lay up, but Tavatanakit opts to have a lash from the rough with a 5-wood. Her ball snags in greenside rough, a bunker between her and the pin. The defending champion has clearly decided to go for it, and to blazes with the consequences if it all goes wrong. Hey, you don’t often get the opportunity of retaining a major title. Annika Sorenstam (2002) is the only player to successfully defend this championship as a major; Sandra Post (1979) did it during the non-major years too. Tavatanakit is looking to join an elite club.
Now then. All of a sudden, Kupcho’s lead, once an extremely healthy seven shots, is down to four. That’s because Jessica Korda - thankfully up and running again after those running repairs to her back - has birdied the par-five 11th. Back on the tee, Kupcho and Tavatanakit send their drives into the rough down the left. Both are likely to lay up from there.
-16: Kupcho (10)
-12: J Korda (11)
-11: Tavatanakit (10)
-10: Shibuno (F), Babnik (17)
News of a hole in one earlier in the day. Chella Choi aced 17, and the 31-year-old South Korean will be driving away in some sort of electric BMW. She gave the car a quick hug before getting on with business, finishing up with a 71 and ending the week at level par.
When Kupcho starts feeling the pressure, she turns to chewing gum. She’s certainly chomping away at the minute as she sizes up this wedge. She sends her ball smoothly rolling to four feet. Not perfect, but at least she’ll have a chance to salvage her par ... and it puts a little added pressure on Tavatanakit’s birdie putt. The defending champ can’t make it. It’s always staying wide right. Kupcho pulls a nervous dribbler wide right, though, and that’s a second bogey in three holes for the runaway leader. This isn’t over just yet.
-16: Kupcho (10)
-11: J Korda (10), Tavatanakit (10)
-10: Shibuno (F), Babnik (16)
Jessica Korda is currently prone, a physio working away on her back. Seems she tweaked something when hitting her tee shot at the par-five 11th. Back on 10, Tavatanakit clips a clean wedge out of the flat fairway bunker and sends her ball gracefully rolling to ten feet. Kupcho’s lie in the same trap isn’t quite as good, near the lip and on the up slope, and she catches it heavy. She’s well short of the green and it’ll take a good up and down from 50 yards to salvage par.
The final pair hit the turn. The last nine on Sunday. Welcome to the start of the 2022 Chevron Championship! Tavatanakit and Kupcho take turns to send their tee shots at 10 into the big flat bunker to the right of the fairway. Meanwhile another birdie for the 2014 champion Lexi Thompson, this time at 11. She’s edging her way up the standings to -9 and a tie for sixth with Nanna Koerstz Madsen and Celine Boutier.
Tavatanakit really has to get up and down from greenside sand for birdie. She hits an aggressive splash out of the sand, her ball trundling past the hole and onto the fringe. She can’t make the putt coming back, and it’s just a par. Kupcho’s birdie putt shaves the left lip and the lead remains six. Tavatanakit has had her chances to close the gap, but she’s making no gains. Meanwhile a three-putt bogey for Babnik on 15.
-17: Kupcho (9)
-11: J Korda (10), Tavatanakit (9)
-10: Shibuno (F), Babnik (15)
Driver off the deck for Patty Tavatanakit on the par-five 9th! She sends her ball crashing towards the green, only to be swallowed up by the bunker on the left. Kupcho, with shots in hand, plays the hole more conservatively, laying up with her second before wedging to ten feet. Meanwhile up on 18, par for Shibuno and it’s her second 66 of the week. She smiles widely - of course she does - in wry acknowledgement of yesterday’s title-scuppering 77. She’s the new clubhouse leader at -10.
The nerveless 18-year-old Slovenian Pia Babnik whips her tee shot at the par-three 14th to three feet. She leaves the flagstick in, despite it whipping around in the wind. She’s not bothered. In goes the putt, and off she walks with yet another birdie - her fourth of the day, to go with eagle at 2 - and a huge smile on her face. She’s in a share of second now. This is sensational!
-17: Kupcho (8)
-11: Babnik (14), J Korda (9), Tavatanakit (8)
-10: Shibuno (17)
Kupcho’s ball is sitting down in thick greenside rough. She doesn’t quite give her wedge enough. The ball squirts out, but stops a good ten feet short. She very nearly salvages par but her putt, a gentle right-to-left slider, stays out on the high side. She taps in and walks off with furrowed brow. A huge matchplay moment coming up for Tavatanakit ... but despite getting a good read from Kupcho, her birdie putt is always missing to the left.
-17: Kupcho (8)
-11: J Korda (9), Tavatanakit (8)
Kupcho sends her tee shot at the par-three 8th over the back and into the cabbage. A combination of the wind taking the ball and a hard bounce. Tavatanakit responds by nearly acing! She strokes a 7-iron straight at the flag. A gentle bounce and for a second it threatens to drop. Instead it rolls six feet past. She’ll have a look at birdie, and with Kupcho just off in the thick stuff, there’s potential for a couple of shots swing here.
Tavatanakit clips a gorgeous wedge to a couple of feet and will surely convert for her par. That’s a fine save, with absolutely no room left for error. A two-putt par for the leader. Meanwhile Lexi Thompson follows up birdie at 7 with another at 9, and turns in 34.
-18: Kupcho (7)
-11: J Korda (8), Tavatanakit (7)
-10: Shibuno (16), Babnik (12)
Jessica Korda, flying the family flag in the absence of sister Nelly, goes close with a 35-footer for birdie on 8. The ball refuses to drop. She remains at -11, seven shots shy of Kupcho, who is on the fringe, pin high, for two at 7. Tavatanakit is however in a spot of bother, having found a fairway bunker from the tee. She can’t reach the green in regulation and will have to get up and down from 40 yards if she’s to scramble par.
If anybody is going to put any sort of scoreboard pressure on Kupcho, they’ll need pretty much everything to drop. Nanna Koerstz Madsen nearly rakes home a 30-footer from the fringe at the back of 10, but the ball stops stubbornly on the lip. She taps in for par and remains at -9.
Back at Mission Hills, Jennifer Kupcho maintains her seven-stroke lead by nervelessly teasing a treacherous downhill six-footer into the cup on 6. Par for her and partner Tavatanakit. They’re -18 and -11 respectively.
JJ Spaun has won the Texas Open. That’s the 31-year-old Californian’s first win on the PGA Tour, after 147 starts, and it earns him a debut spin around Augusta next week. He’s the first player to win on tour having double bogeyed the opening hole of his final round since Tiger won the 2008 US Open at Torrey Pines!
The chase is beginning to look futile. Another birdie for Kupcho, at 5, her third in four holes, and right now it’s very difficult to imagine the 2019 Augusta National Women’s Amateur champion making too many mistakes. She’ll have to make a few now if there’s to be any drama. Bounce-back birdie at 5 for the defending champ.
-18: Kupcho (5)
-11: J Korda (6), Tavatanakit (5)
Updated
There’s a bit of a European charge going on. The aforementioned Slovenian teenager Pia Babnik, having traversed the front nine in 33, birdies 10 to move to -9. She’s alongside Celine Boutier of France, out in 32, and the in-form Dane Nanna Koerstz Madsen, who has followed up birdie at 2 with more at 7 and 8. Meanwhile there’s another new clubhouse leader, in the shape of Alison Lee, who signs for an equal best-of-day 67.
-17: Kupcho (4)
-11: J Korda (5)
-10: Shibuno (14), Tavatanakit (4)
-9: Boutier (11), Babnik (10), Koerstz Madsen (8)
-8: Lee (F)
Shibuno is box office. Most players would throw in the towel after a third round of 77 sent them tumbling from the top of the leaderboard and all the way down the standings. Not the Smiling Cinderella! She’s made yet another birdie, her fourth in five holes, at 14, and is now in a tie for third! She’s not made up any ground on the leader, though, because Kupcho has bounced back from bogey at 3 with birdie at 4. Her partner in the final match, the defending champion Tavatanakit, goes the other way with bogey.
-17: Kupcho (4)
-11: J Korda (5)
-10: Shibuno (14), Tavatanakit (4)
We have a new clubhouse leader. The 2018 British Open champ Georgia Hall has got round in 69 today, and finishes the week at -6. A strong finish to go with Thursday’s 68, bookending average rounds of 71 and 74 that scuppered any chance of a serious tilt at the title by the 25-year-old from Bournemouth. Hall has yet to make a proper impression in the majors on US soil, all of her top-ten finishes coming in Europe at the British Open or the Evian. She does have one LPGA Tour win under her belt, to be fair, at last year’s Portland Classic.
Jennifer Kupcho had only made four bogeys all week going into this final round. Now she’s made a fifth. A dropped stroke at 3, and suddenly there’s a small shaft of light for the chasing pack.
-16: Kupcho (3)
-11: J Korda (4), Tavatanakit (3)
-9: Shibuno (12), Boutier (10)
With a third-placed finish at the 2014 US Open very much an outlier, Stephanie Meadow doesn’t have much of a record in the majors. Her next best finish was a tie for 19th here at Mission Hills last year, but the 30-year-old from Northern Ireland is on course to improve on that today. She went out in 33, with birdies at 2, 3 and 7, and is currently -7 overall. A second top-ten finish at a major is within her grasp.
A third birdie in a row for Hinako Shibuno! The Smiling Cinderella is flying at the moment, and it’s such a shame she isn’t seriously contesting after those opening rounds of 69 and 66. She’s now in a tie for fourth at -9, and surely cursing the 77 she carded yesterday while Kupcho was up ahead, whistling around in 64 shots. Ah well, it’s all good experience for next year for the 23-year-old Japanese star, and whatever else happens in her career, she’ll always have Woburn.
All the leaders are out and about now ... and Jennifer Kupcho has already taken one more small step towards the title. She’s made her birdie on the par-five 2nd and moves to -17. She’s still only got a six-stroke lead, though, as her partner Patty Tavatanakit also birdies the hole, while Jessica Korda has made eagle at 3. The top of the leaderboard now has a new look ...
-17: Kupcho (2)
-11: J Korda (3), Tavatanakit (2)
-9: Boutier (9)
-8: Lee (15), Shibuno (11), Babnik (8), Park (3)
Hinako Shibuno led the way after 36 holes but shot a nightmare 77 yesterday to take herself out of serious contention for the title. That awful mid-round collapse - two doubles and three further bogeys in a dozen holes - looks ever more costly, as the 2019 British Open winner is going great guns again today. Birdies at 2, 3, 4, 10 and 11 have whisked her back up the leaderboard, tantalisingly close to the top but still so far away. She’s -8.
But there are some big movers still out there, and in good shape to post a score that may concern Kupcho if she were to stumble. Celine Boutier has followed up eagle at 2 with birdies at 5 and now 8 to rise to -9, Alison Lee has just made five birdies in six holes, and is -8 overall with four holes left to play, and the 18-year-old Slovenian debutant Pia Babnik is also three under for her round and -8 overall.
So has anybody made a Ko-esque break from the pack? Not exactly, though three 67s have already been posted, suggesting a low score is out there for someone today. Those 67s have been signed by Lauren Stephenson, who ends her week at -1 overall, Chun In-gee (-4) and Nasa Hataoka, the current clubhouse leader at -5.
Updated
Here we go, then, day four of the Dinah Shore. This time last year, the 2016 champion Lydia Ko was busy tearing Mission Hills to shreds. She went out in 29 strokes, a tournament nine-hole record, and ended the day with a 62, equalling Lorena Ochoa’s best card in the 50-year history of the event. That moved her from a tie for seventh into second spot, and having started today 11 shots off Jennifer Kupcho’s lead, she needed something similarly spectacular today. There’ll be no repeat heroics, though. She’s currently level par for her round today through 6. She’s -5.
Preamble
Congratulations to 16-year-old lefty Anna Davis, who yesterday won the third staging of the Augusta National Women’s Amateur with a stunning final round of 69. Hers is a name worth taking note of, because it may well show up on the radar again sooner than you think. See, it’s only a mere three years since Jennifer Kupcho won the inaugural ANWA, and now take a look at the 54-hole leaderboard at the Dinah Shore ...
-16: Jennifer Kupcho
-10: Patty Tavatanakit
-9: Jessica Korda
-7: Annie Park
-6: Nanna Koerstz Madsen, HJ Kim, Lexi Thompson, Gabi Ruffels, Hannah Green, Brooke Henderson
The odds are that Kupcho, six strokes ahead of defending champion Patty Tavatanakit, will win her first major at Mission Hills today. But wild things can happen in golf. Players get tight, as poor Lexi Thompson did in last year’s US Open at Olympic Club, shipping a five-shot lead on the back nine. Players get hot, too, just like Lydia Ko on the final day here 12 months ago, the New Zealander shooting a record-equalling 62 that gave Tavatanakit - who went into the final round with a five-shot advantage - a genuine scare. Anything and everything is possible on Sunday at a major.
Whoever wins will take a celebratory leap into Poppie’s Pond, a long tradition at the Dinah Shore, but one that will play out for the final time today. That’s because the tournament, formerly sponsored by Colgate, Nabisco, Kraft Nabisco and All Nippon Airways, is now funded by Chevron, who are taking it to Texas next year. Ah well, as the founder herself was fond of singing: the fun is in the going. This blog gets going at 10pm BST, once everyone is out at Mission Hills for the very last time. It’s on!
