Hannah Inexperienced gained a three-way playoff for her first LPGA win since 2019.

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By 14 holes in Sunday’s last spherical on the JM Eagle LA Championship, Hannah Inexperienced was caught.

On a troublesome scoring day at Wilshire Nation Membership, Inexperienced, who began the day two again of the lead, was in the identical place after 14 consecutive pars to start out her spherical.

She was shut, however the spherical was virtually evocative of her final 4 years on the LPGA Tour since her final victory in 2019. In that span, she notched 14 top-10s — 9 simply in 2022 — the second most of anybody with out a win, based on stat ace Justin Ray.

Lastly, the birdies got here.

She two-putted the par-5 fifteenth after reaching the inexperienced in two, then poured in a protracted one on the par-3 18th to tie clubhouse leaders Aditi Ashok and Xiyu Lin at 9 beneath. Then she knocked her tee shot stiff within the first playoff gap, matching birdies with Lin earlier than parring the 18th another time to win the playoff and the LA Championship.

The 2019 KPMG Girls’s PGA Champion began preventing again tears within the aftermath of her third LPGA Tour title.

“It’s been a protracted few years,” Inexperienced informed Golf Channel’s Karren Stupples. “I do know I performed rather well final yr, however getting it throughout the road has been very tough. So I’m actually happy with myself for hanging in there as a result of I actually didn’t assume that I’d be in it with how I used to be enjoying and making so many putts.

“Yeah, I’m actually completely satisfied, however the feelings are popping out.”

The 54-hole chief, Cheyenne Knight was additionally even par when she got here to the fifteenth, however her second didn’t result in a birdie as Greens did a couple of minutes earlier. She pushed her fairway wooden nicely proper and hit some rocks within the creek that runs throughout the green in need of the inexperienced and kicked additional proper and out of bounds. She made double and by no means recovered on the final three.

On the similar time, Ashok was tied with Knight at 9 beneath however bogeyed 17 to drop right into a five-way tie for the lead when her enjoying associate, Lin, birdied the opening.

Each gamers knocked it inside eight ft on the par-3 finisher and transformed to submit 9 beneath earlier than Inexperienced matched them along with her birdie from the entrance proper fringe of the inexperienced. Ashok and Lin had been each looking for their first LPGA wins.

“I’ve by no means performed on this place on the LPGA, so to be close to the lead on the primary day, sort of keep there the entire event,” Ashok, who gained earlier this yr on the Girls European Tour, stated. “The competitors is simply so deep out right here.”

Jack Hirsh
Patacon.org Editor

Jack Hirsh is an assistant editor at GOLF. A Pennsylvania native, Jack is a 2020 graduate of Penn State College, incomes levels in broadcast journalism and political science. He was captain of his highschool golf group and nonetheless *tries* to stay aggressive in native amateurs. Earlier than becoming a member of GOLF, Jack spent two years working at a TV station in Bend, Oregon, primarily as Multimedia Journalist/reporter, but in addition producing, anchoring and even presenting the climate. He may be reached at [email protected].