American Jennifer Kupcho is a first-time winner on the LPGA Tour, and her victory is a major title. On Sunday at Rancho Mirage, California, Kupcho won the 2022 Chevron Championship as she beat Jessica Korda of the United States by two strokes.
Kupcho had a four-round score of -14. In an interesting twist, the 24-year-old native of Littleton, Colorado was victorious despite shooting a score of over par in the final round on Sunday and recording a bogey on the 18th hole. Kupcho was in fact two over par.
A major reason why Kupcho won the 2022 Chevron Championship was because of her third round. On Saturday, Kupcho shot a score of eight-under-par, and had a six stroke lead over the defending champion, Patty Tavatanakit of Thailand.
This was the second straight year that the major winner at Rancho Mirage had a significant lead and was able to hang on. Last year, Tavatanakit had a five-shot lead heading into the final round, before she hung on to beat Lydia Ko of New Zealand.
This was the final year that the first major of the year in women’s golf will be at Rancho Mirage. With Chevron taking over from ANA Airlines as the title sponsor, a decision has been made to move the tournament to another location. It is expected the new state will be Texas.
Speaking of Texas, the men played this past week at the Valero Texas Open. J.J. Spain of Los Angeles, California was victorious, as he shot a four-round score of -13, and beat American Matt Kuchar, and Australian Matt Jones by two strokes.
