A thrilling, final-round charge from Miyu Yamashita led to an unexpected playoff with Lottie Woad at the Meijer LPGA Classic for Simply Give.
Yamashita, who posted the low round of the tournament with an 8-under 64 on Sunday at Blythefield Country Club, worked to erase a five-shot deficit and earned the opportunity to go toe-to-toe against Woad. Yamashita won with a 2-foot birdie putt on the first playoff hole.
“I was able to put together a solid round, and it all felt pretty natural out there,” Yamashita said through a translator after her round. “Lottie played really well, too. I honestly didn’t expect it to end up in a playoff.”
Woad entered Sunday one stroke behind 54-hole leader Jing Yan, and wasted no time making up ground. The two-time LPGA winner rolled in a birdie at her first hole of the day only to give it back with a bogey at the second.
Despite carding birdies on four of her first five holes to vault up the leaderboard, Yamashita’s putter eventually let her down at the par-3 15th where she bogeyed for the first time in her final round to fall a shot behind Woad’s lead.
At No. 17, Woad’s second shot found the greenside bunker to the left of the putting surface, well below the green. Facing a challenging third shot to make sure she’d be able to salvage a par, Woad holed out for birdie to seize complete momentum of the tournament heading into the closing hole.
Woad, who placed her hand on top of her head in almost dismay when the ball disappeared into the cup, promptly exited the bunker to exchange high-fives with caddie David Taylor.
“Obviously, 17 was pretty — a bonus. Didn’t have the easiest bunker shot and obviously made it,” Woad said. “Thought it was going a little bit past, so was happy with that.”
Bogey at 18 sets up playoff
Woad went from experiencing the highest of highs to the lowest of lows. She three-putted the 72nd hole for bogey to fall into a playoff with Yamashita, who birdied the last.
“I went pretty straight, left center. I mean, it went left on me,” Woad said about her par putt attempt that lipped out. “I’m not sure if that was me or the green or it’s late in the day. A lot of people played. Could have been any of those things. But, yeah, missed.”
The pair returned to the 18th tee for the first playoff hole where Yamashita was the first to hit and found the left rough. Woad also took her tee ball up the left side and it came to rest in the fairway but on the edge of the rough line.
The duo were both able to advance their ball with their second shot to just short of the putting surface. Yamashita played her pitch to 2 feet of the hole, which put the pressure on Woad to match her. But Woad sent her chip 12 feet past the hole and she missed the putt coming back, leaving the door wide open for Yamashita to make birdie and win.
“Our whole team has been working hard together throughout the season, and this feels like a result of that effort,” Yamashita said about her victory on Father’s Day in the United States. “I really wanted to win on this special day. That gave me a little extra motivation out there and helped drive me throughout the round. I am incredibly grateful to my family for all the support they give me every day. This win is just as much for them as it is for me.”
Rest of leaderboard
Woad’s runner-up finish is her fifth top-10 of the season. Wei-Ling Hsu and Yan Liu were tied for third at 15 under par. Minji Kang posted a final-round 66 to finish tied for fifth with Cassie Porter at 14 under par.
Minami Katsu and Grace Kim were tied for seventh at 13 under par along with Jing Yan, the second- and third-round leader, who closed with a final-round 73 for her second top-10 of the year.
