Rookie Ingrid Lindblad from Sweden won her first-career LPGA Tour event, beating fellow rookie Akie Iwai by one stroke, finishing at -21.
Lindblad grabbed the lead relatively early in her round thanks to a fast start. The aggressive player had just two pars on the front nine, with two bogeys and five birdies. After that, she maintained her lead. Playing mostly stellar shots along with a few flashes of brilliance and a lucky break on a shot that was heading toward out of bounds before kicking into the fairway. Lindblad made just one birdie on the back nine, but it was enough.
Lindblad hit nine fairways and 14 greens on the day with 28 putts. She had three rounds of 68 to go along with a phenomenal 63 on Friday that put her in winning position.
Lindblad, one of the best collegiate golfers of the past decade who finished top three twice in the Augusta National Women’s Amateur now appears to be on her way to stardom in the professional game. She is the second LSU Tiger from Sweden in a row to win on the Tour, after Madelene Sagström two weeks ago.
Not to be too overshadowed was the impressive rookie from Japan, Akie Iwai. We’ve already seen her incredible shot making ability in her young career, and it was on full display Sunday. There is a lot of Sei Young Kim in Iwai’s game. It doesn’t always look pretty, but she can hit shots few players on tour can match.
The LPGA Tour next heads to the Houston area for the first major championship of the year, the Chevron Championship.
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