Pernilla Lindberg on Monday plunged into Poppie’s Pond with her parents and fiance-caddie Daniel Taylor, celebrating her first professional victory in the biggest way possible in women’s golf.
The 31-year-old Swede needed a major-record eight sudden-death holes over two days to finish off Inbee Park in the ANA Inspiration, ending it on Monday morning with a 30-foot birdie putt on the par-four 10th.
Park’s 20-footer to match missed to the left.
Photo: AP
They played four holes on Monday after going until it was too dark to see — and then played some more — on Sunday night.
Lindberg won in her 250th start on the LPGA, Ladies European and Symetra tours, sharing the moment with father Jan and mother Gunilla. They introduced her to golf at Bollnas Golf Club about 240km north of Stockholm.
“It’s so cool,” Lindberg said. “The only reason I’m playing golf is because of them. I’m so happy they’re here. I’ve probably given my dad I don’t know how many heart attacks over the last few days.”
On Sunday, Jennifer Song dropped out with a par on the third playoff hole, and Park and Lindberg decided to take one more trip down the par-five 18th in fading light.
With portable lights and the scoreboard helping illuminate the green, Park holed a 6-footer for par and Lindberg made a short putt to match. They finished at 7:21pm, 15 minutes after sunset.
Play resumed at 8am on No. 10, with Lindbergh leaving a birdie putt an inch short from a little lower on the green than her winner later on the hole.
They made up-and-down pars on the par-three 17th, with Park holing a tricky 8-foot downhill putt and Lindberg staying alive from a foot closer.
Lindberg then reached the 18th in two, but was on the far left side and was only able to get her eagle putt within 7 feet. Park laid up and hit a wedge to 8 feet.
They both missed.
Lindberg is the fourth player to lead wire-to-wire in the event and the first since Pat Hurst in 1998, and the fifth to win the tournament for her first LPGA Tour victory.
Lindberg is the sixth Swedish female major champion, joining Liselotte Neumann, Helen Alfredsson, Annika Sorenstam, Anna Nordqvist and Jenny Lidback, all of whom also won their first LPGA Tour title in a major.
Taiwan’s Hsu Wei-ling finished the tournament tied for 60th on a one-over 289 total, while Kaohsiung-born Candie Kung of the US was in a group tied for 66th a further two strokes back.
Additional reporting by staff writer
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
HSIEH MAKES QUARTERS: Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens of Belgium won in the women’s doubles and face Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sofia Kenin of the US Top-ranked Iga Swiatek and US Open champion Coco Gauff were knocked out of the women’s singles at the Miami Open on Monday, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced in the women’s doubles. Swiatek lost to Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-4, 6-2, hours after third seed Gauff fell in three sets to No. 23 Caroline Garcia 6-3, 1-6, 6-2. Alexandrova beat a top-ranked player for the first time and advanced to face Jessica Pegula, a 7-6 (7/1), 6-3 winner over Emma Navarro, in the quarter-finals. Alexandrova recorded her second win over Swiatek, following a 2021 victory in Melbourne. Swiatek had won their three matches since. “We played quite