LPGA Tour: Lindy Duncan wins The Annika for first title after 222 events
The Annika final leaderboard
-16 L Duncan (US); -14 HJ Choi (Kor); -13 Y Yoshida (Jap), H Ryu (Kor); -12 J Lopez Ramirez (Spa); –11 G Lopez (Mex); –10 N Korda (US)
Selected others: -8 L Woad (Eng); -4 L Maguire (Ire), C Hull (Eng); +9 J Ewart Shadoff (Eng); +17 M Rhodes (Eng)
American Lindy Duncan was left “completely shocked” after winning her first LPGA Tour title at the 222nd time of asking.
The 35-year-old started Sunday’s final round of The Annika with a one-shot lead and two late birdies saw her claim victory.
Duncan, who joined the tour in 2014, had only enjoyed one top-10 finish this season.
But her three-under-par 67 saw her finish on 16 under at Pelican Golf Club in Belleair, Florida, two shots clear of her nearest challenger, South Korea’s Choi Hye-jin .
“I got so many people to thank that believed in me when I wasn’t sure if I wanted to keep playing or if I was good enough to keep playing,” Duncan said followng her win.
“To be here, I’m just completely shocked.”
Duncan was tied for the lead with Choi with two holes left to play before her late heroics.
“Coming into today I kind of thought, ‘No matter what happens I learned a huge lesson,’ and hopefully I can take that forward with me,” Duncan said.
“I just put so much pressure on myself because I really want to do well. Sometimes you just over try, and I think I’ve done that a lot. This week I finally let that go a little bit.”
The win also saw her qualify as one of the 60 players at the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship by jumping from 74 to 34 in the standings for the season-long points race.
World number one Nelly Korda, who finished seventh, will be aiming to win her second season title next week.
England’s Lottie Woad – another player in the field for next week’s finale – was two shots further back but it was enough to secure a top-10 spot.