Spain’s Carlota Ciganda shot a 5-under-par 67 Sunday to finish 16-under 272 and win the Meijer LPGA Classic in Belmont, Mich.
Ciganda came into the event with two previous LPGA tour victories under her belt, having won the KEB Hana Bank Championship and Lorena Ochoa Invitational in 2016.
But it had been nearly a decade since the 35-year-old had managed to match those early-career highs.
“It feels amazing obviously after all these years,” Ciganda said. “I knew I could do it, but obviously once the years keep going and you start getting older you start doubting yourself.”
The Spaniard has traditionally done well at this event, with finishes of 17th, eighth and fifth the previous three years. She credited her host family and the terrain, which brought back memories of her native Spain.
“I love coming here,” Ciganda added. “It reminds me from Spain where I’m from in the northern part of the Spain. Very similar. Lots of trees, peaceful. I love the golf course. Five par-5s, you can hit it hard here. So I really like that.
“And just staying with Bubba and Gretchen the host family for almost ten years, doesn’t even feel like a tournament. Just feels really comfortable. We had a great vibe going on this week, and it’s been amazing to stay with them and play and obviously to win.”
Ciganda, who missed the cut at last week’s U.S. Women’s Open, got off to another slow start in her final round Sunday with a bogey on Hole 2 that dropped her to 10 under. But much like her earlier rounds, she found her footing around the turn, netting birdies on Holes 6, 8, 9 and 10 to put herself back in the mix.
She shook off a bogey on 13 to finish wonderfully, with birdies on 15, 17 and 18, giving her seven birdies on the day.
After pocketing a birdie on the par-4 No. 17, she walked up to the drive on Hole 18 with a one-stroke lead on the field.
South Korea’s Somi Lee finished her day ahead of the other top contenders, but she fired an impressive 7-under 65 with eight birdies to establish a baseline of 14 under as the number to beat.
Ciganda made it to 15 under with her birdie on 17, then calmly sank her putt on 18 to earn a second-straight birdie and two-shot lead on the field.
For closest pursuer Hye-Jin Choi, who had an eagle on the par-5 fourth, that proved too much to overcome.
The South Korean, still looking for her first career win despite 23 top-10 finishes, had been at 15 under for much of her back nine, putting her in a strong position going into the seventeenth.
But she settled for a five-shot bogey on that hole, leaving her needing a little help on 18.
Instead, Ciganda netted another birdie on 18, putting Choi in the uncomfortable position of needing an eagle, which she couldn’t land.
“Overall it was a really good round for me,” Choi said. “I had a chance to win this tournament, but the bogey on 17 hole was, yeah, just the one I’m thinking about. So I’m going to try to the next tournament.”
Choi sank birdie on 18 to finish 4-under 68, leaving her alone in second at 15 under.
Lee finished alone in third, while three golfers tied for fourth at 13 under: France’s Celine Boutier (67), Denmark’s Nanna Koerstz Madsen (70) and Lexi Thompson (70).
–Field Level Media
