The pressure cooker that is The Chevron Championship seems to generate playoffs at a much higher rate than its major peers.
No matter where it has been played, the LPGA’s first major of the year has tested its winner beyond the demands of just 72 holes.
Last year’s boasted a five-player playoff that Mao Saigo survived. There have been six in the last 11 years. Here’s a look at them all:
Lincicome eagles No. 18 to force playoff, wins for second time at Mission Hills (2015)
Brittany Lincicome became a two-time champ thanks to her dramatic eagle on the final hole on the Dinah Shore Tournament Course.
Stacy Lewis finished runner-up after battling Lincicome for three extra holes.
Little did Lewis and Lincicome know this would spark a run of five playoffs over the next decade.
Thompson penalized for rules infraction, loses to Ryu on first playoff hole (2017)
South Korea’s So Yeon Ryu won her second major championship at Mission Hills but it wasn’t without controversy.
Lexi Thompson was the tournament leader on the 12th hole in the final round. That’s when she was told by a rules official that she was being docked a pair of two-stroke penalties — 4 in total! — for a rules infraction (and subsequently signing the wrong scorecard) the day before. Thompson went from two up to two back. Through the tears and emotion, she managed to tie Ryu at the end of regulation, but lost to a Ryu birdie on the first extra hole.
Lindberg endures eight extra holes (2018)
The Dinah Shore Tournament Course saw five days of golf in 2018, thanks to a three-player playoff between Pernilla Lindberg, Inbee Park and Jennifer Song.
The trio tied at 15-under 273 after the final round, in which Lindberg gave away a three-shot 54-hole lead. Jessica Korda and Ariya Jutanugarn both pushed for a spot in the playoff but settled for a T-2 at 274.
Lindberg regained herself in the playoff, with Song being dropped in the third of eight extra holes. Dark conditions pushed the playoff into Monday after Lindberg and Park finished the fourth hole.
Four holes into the the next day, Lindberg drained a 30-foot birdie putt and secured the victory — her first professional win.
Pernilla Lindberg of Sweden jumps into the water with her fiance Daniel Taylor and her parents Jan and Gunilla Lindberg after winning the the ANA Inspiration on the Dinah Shore Tournament Course at Mission Hills Country Club on April 2, 2018 in Rancho Mirage, California. (Photo by Robert Laberge/Getty Images)
Lee stuns in first-major victory, rallying to beat Henderson and Korda (2020)
Played in September 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this version of the Chevron saw Mirim Lee surprise Brooke Henderson and Nelly Korda. The trio tied at 15-under 273 following a dramatic finish on the final hole of regulation.
Lee eagled at the 18th, while Henderson birdied. Korda, the tournament leader entering the hole, made par.
Lee won with a birdie on the first hole in extras, securing a $465,000 payday. Henderson and Korda made par.
Move to Texas produces same result: Vu beats Yin in playoff (2023)
After 51 years played at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage, California, The Chevron Championship packed its bags for the Houston area in 2023.
The move did nothing to prevent another tightly-contested tournament on Sunday, where Lilia Vu beat Angel Yin with a birdie on the par-5 18th hole at the Jack Nicklaus Signature Golf Course at Carlton Woods to earn her first major victory.
Nelly Korda finished third, a shot off Vu and Yin in regulation. Korda would go on to win the tournament the next season (no playoff needed).
Saigo’s short game strong enough to survive five-player playoff (2025)
Mao Saigo walked away a first-time LPGA winner at the 2025 Chevron Championship after shooting a 2-under 74 in her final round. And it was far from easy.
The 2024 LPGA Rookie of the Year made a 3-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole at the start of the playoff that bested Ariya Jutanugarn, Hyo Joo Kim and Ruoning Yin, who all missed on the green and settled for par. Lindy Duncan, the fifth member of the record-setting playoff, bogeyed.
Jutanugarn, who bogeyed the 18th in regulation, led for most of the final round.