Everything came full circle for Linn Grant.
The 26-year-old Swede looked up to Annika Sorenstam, the most successful Swedish golfer, growing up. And when she was a teenager, she played in the Annika Cup, which came with a wedge session from Sorenstam herself.
Grant admits she was probably tongue-tied.
Fast forward to 2025, Grant was sitting next to Sorenstam, 55, in the winner’s press conference after winning the Annika at Pelican Golf Club, an event Sorenstam hosts.
“It’s just very fun to be sitting here with you with all the history we sort of have,” Grant said after a final-round 65.
Grant won the LPGA’s first of two playoff events by three strokes over Jennifer Kupcho. It’s her first win since the 2023 Dana Open and second on tour. And Grant is now the LPGA’s 29th winner this season, a record.
Yet, it came in a bit of a down year for the 26-year-old, with six top 10s in 20 starts.
“I think for pretty much the fall, I feel like I’ve been doing things that I more so believe I should be doing: not stressing too much over my results or like feeling like I’m not as good as I should be or I should have been more successful in ways,” said Grant, who collected $487,500 from the 3.5 million purse, “but just believing that whatever path I’m on is for me.”
However, Grant didn’t take home the biggest payday this week. That was Kupcho, who banked $1 million by winning the season-long Aon Risk Reward Challenge with an eagle in Round 2.
“I think I was stressing about it really all like the last three weeks," Kupcho said. “Really stressed about it obviously this week. But to be able to make an eagle, that was insane on Friday and pretty cool. I mean, obviously, it wasn't just that one round, one hole, it was the whole year.”
With the Annika being the penultimate event of the year, only the top 60 in the season-long Race to the CME standings moved on to the season finale next week.
The Goose is loose! 🪿
— LPGA (@LPGA) November 16, 2025
Nataliya Guseva holes it on 18 pic.twitter.com/8BtUwgmoiM
Nataliya Guseva moved on in style. Projected 59th on the 72nd hole, she holed an eagle from 122 yards to secure her spot in next week’s field.
“The whole day, you know, it wasn’t kind of—I wasn't kind of in my momentum, so it was definitely nice to get that hole-out,” the 22-year-old said. “But I hit it firstly in the bunker and had to hit it out, and then after that had a good number for my 50-degree wedge. Just tried to kind of dialed in, and when I saw the ball kind of rolling and people were starting to scream, that was probably one the best feelings.”
Meanwhile, Lucy Li, who carded a do-or-die birdie on her last hole, squeaked in at No. 58 after a T4 and Brooke Matthews nabbed the final spot, placing T9.
Brooke Matthews with an ace! 🚨
— LPGA (@LPGA) November 16, 2025
She rolls in the 143 yd tee shot for a 2 year lease on a Lamborghini pic.twitter.com/us6VLkn5J9
And Matthews, like Guseva, did it dramatically, acing the par-3 12th—which came with a two-year Lamborghini lease—and eagling the par-5 14th.
“It was probably the craziest moment of my life, honestly,” Matthews, 27, said of her hole-in-one. “It was 140; had a 9-iron; hit like one hopped on the left hill and went in, and I still can’t believe it.”
But on the flip side, Jenny Shin (58th to 61st), Wei-Ling Hsu (59th to 62nd) and Cassie Porter (60th to 64th) were the odd women out.
Grant might have been the champion this week, but there was much more at stake than a win.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Linn Grant Gets Full Circle Win at the Annika As Others Dramatically Extend Seasons.
