Akie Iwai fired a bogey-free 6-under-par 66 on Sunday at Columbia Edgewater Country Club to breeze to the Standard Portland Classic title — the first LPGA win for the 23-year-old rookie from Saitama, Japan.
Iwai opened the final round with a two-shot lead, but she birdied three of the final five holes to finish at 24-under-par 264 for a four-shot victory margin over Gurleen Kaur.
Iwai joined her identical twin sister, Chisato, as first-time LPGA Tour winners this season. Chisato celebrated Akie’s triumph Sunday by greeting her on the 18th green with champagne — repaying Akie’s gesture when Chisato won the Mexico Riviera Maya Open in May.
“So this year she won, so really inspired me,” Akie said. “Yeah, that’s why I do my best this year.”
Kaur, 25, authored a 7-under 65 on Sunday to claim her first second-place finish. She stood at 6-under through 10 holes to put some pressure on Akie Iwai.
“I think it just shows I have the capability to win out here,” Kaur said. “I was close today. I just need to keep that consistent momentum going and confidence for the future. Yeah, (a) second-place finish is pretty good. I’ll take that.”
Chisato Iwai tied amateur Kiara Romero for the day’s finest round — an 8-under 64 — to pull into a third-place tie with Sweden’s Linn Grant at 19-under for the tournament. Grant equaled her best finish of the season and turned around recent struggles. She had missed the cut in three of her previous four events.
“I think, like, for my mentality, it’s just been nice to kind of be able to like see my vision like come alive sort of,” Grant said. “Kind of see the shots I’m thinking and actually seeing them happening, too, and be able to, you know, really play with much more joy and more relaxed than the last couple months.”
Australia’s Grace Kim, who started the day two strokes behind Akie Iwai, posted a 2-under 70 to finish alone in fifth at 18-under.
India’s Aditi Ashok posted a final-round 67 to finish sixth at 17-under. Romero, a 19-year-old University of Oregon junior, solidified her status as the world’s No. 1 amateur by finishing in a tie for seventh at 16-under.
“It feels great to just play really well (in) my first LPGA event,” Romero said. “It was really cool just being out there and just having this big support group behind me and everybody kind of cheering me on and supporting me. Just helped a lot with everything. Made everything so much sweeter.”
–Field Level Media
