Golf roundup: Jennifer Kupcho holds off Jessica Korda to win Chevron Championship
RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. — Jennifer Kupcho took the last victory leap into Poppie’s Pond late Sunday afternoon, ending the tournament best known as the Dinah Shore’s half-century run at Mission Hills in the California desert.
Six strokes ahead entering the round, Kupcho shot a two-over-par 74 for a two-stroke victory over Jessica Korda in the Chevron Championship. The 24-year-old from Colorado finished at 14-under 274 for her first LPGA Tour title.
The event that started in 1972 as the Colgate-Dinah Shore Winner’s Circle and became a major in 1983 is moving to Houston next year after failing to attract a sponsor willing to keep it in the desert.
Speaking at the unveiling of a social justice trophy in his name, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar said LeBron James’ actions are ‘beneath him’ sometimes.
Seven strokes ahead of Korda and defending champion Patty Tavatanakit at 18 under after holing birdie putts over 30 feet on the par-four fourth and par-three fifth, Kupcho played the final 13 holes in four over.
Korda shot a 69. Fighting a back problem, she holed her approach for eagle on the par-four third and pulled within four with birdies on Nos. 11 and 12.
Korda was only two strokes back after Kupcho bogeyed 13 and 14 but fell three behind with a bogey of her own on 15 and parred the last three.
Kupcho pushed the advantage to four with a three-foot birdie putt on the 15th, and Korda missed a 12-foot birdie try soon after on 16. Kupcho bogeyed the final two holes, three-putting the par-five 18th.
The first U.S. winner since Brittany Lincicome in 2015, Kupcho opened Thursday with a 66 for a share of the lead. She had a 70 on Friday and shot a 64 on Saturday to break the tournament 54-hole record at 16 under. She missed a chance to break the 72-hole mark of 19 under set by Dottie Pepper in 1999.
Kupcho won three years after after she passed up a spot in the event to play and win that week in the inaugural Augusta National Women’s Amateur. She also won the 2018 NCAA individual title for Wake Forest.
Pia Babnik of Slovenia closed with a 66 to finish third at 11 under.
Tavatanakit, playing alongside Kupcho the last two days, birdied the 18th for a 72 to tie for fourth at 10 under with 2014 winner Lexi Thompson (68), second-round leader Hinako Shibuno (66) and Celine Boutier (67).
PGA Tour
SAN ANTONIO — J.J. Spaun won his first PGA Tour event — and his first trip to the Masters — by firing a final-round 69 at the Valero Texas Open.
In his 147th PGA Tour start, Spaun survived a double-bogey start to his round by recording five birdies with no bogeys to finish at 13 under at TPC San Antonio. It gave him a two-stroke margin over Matt Kuchar (69) and Matt Jones (66).
Adam Hadwin (67), Beau Hossler (72), Charles Howell III (69) and Troy Merritt (69) tied for fourth at 10 under.
The 31-year-old Spaun closed with four straight pars, and no one could close in on him. His previous best finish on tour was runner-up in 2018 at the RSM Classic.
PGA Tour Champions
BILOXI, Miss. — Steven Alker cruised to his second victory on the PGA Tour Champions, shooting a final-round seven-under 65 to win the Rapiscan Systems Classic by six shots.
Alker’s 18-under total was a record at the event, which moved to Grand Bear Golf Club this year after 10 editions at Fallen Oak.
Padraig Harrington shot a 65 to surge into a tie for second place with Alex Cejka. Bob Estes, who started the day one shot back, slipped to third after shooting 71.
A day after Alker fired a course-record 62 during the second round to take the lead, he followed it up by playing near-flawless golf to hold off an early charge from Estes.
Estes, still searching for his first victory on the 50-and-over tour at age 56, pulled even with Alker three times on the front nine but fell off the pace with a bogey at the par-four eighth hole and couldn’t keep up when Alker ripped off three straight birdies to start the back nine.
Go beyond the scoreboard
Get the latest on L.A.'s teams in the daily Sports Report newsletter.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
