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Jennifer Kupcho’s Major Victory and the rallying Jessica Korda ultimately to shrink to two strokes, Kupcho made clutch shots when she had to—particularly the putts on 11 and 12, and the approach on the par-4 15th that yielded a tap-in birdie. By the time she walked past the statue of tournament co-founder Dinah Shore waving near the 18th green, Kupcho was about to putt with a three-shot lead. Minutes later, the first American since Brittany Lincicome in 2015 to win the tournament found herself locked in a celebratory, feet-off-the-ground embrace with husband—and putting coach—Jay Monahan. “I don’t think he’s ever picked me up, so that was pretty cool,” she said. With the card signed and the trophy presented, kissed and held aloft, Kupcho admitted she had doubts whether her professional breakthrough would come. “Yeah, for sure,” Kupcho said. “I’ve been so close a couple of times, so it’s just really hard sometimes, and here I am. It’s really exciting.” The obligatory jump into Poppie’s Pond followed. After Kupcho, Monahan and her
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t wasn’t a matter of if Jennifer Kupcho would win on the LPGA Tour, but when. Since turning pro in 2019, the Westminster native and former Wake Forest University superstar had come tantalizingly close with ten top-10 finishes, including three runner ups—one of which came in a major, the 2019 Evian Championship. The wait ended April 3—and at a major championship, no less. With her fingernails painted green in honor of the third anniversary of her triumph in the inaugural Augusta National Women’s Amateur championship, the 24-year-old newlywed earned her first LPGA victory in the 50th and final Chevron Championship at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage, Calif. Kupcho led the field by six shots going into Sunday’s action, having set the 50-year-old tournament’s 54-hole record by carding a 16-under 200 during the first three rounds. That margin grew to seven after consecutive birdies on the fourth and fifth holes. Although she would play the final 13 holes in 4 over, allowing the distance between her
A SHORE THING: Kupcho exults after sinking the final putt to win the Chevron Classic (aka “The Dinah Shore”), the first major of the season and the first of Kupcho’s career.
caddie, David Eller, took the celebratory leap, she emerged soaked and smiling, soon finding herself happily swaddled in a ceremonial bathrobe. Kupcho’s first LPGA win marked the last time that iconic ritual will play out at Mission Hills. The beloved tournament that debuted in 1972 as the Colgate-Dinah Shore Winner’s Circle—and became a major in 1983—will move to Houston next spring. “It’s surreal to be able to say that I was the last person here and first person at Augusta,” reflected Kupcho, whose first LPGA Tour win made her $750,000 richer as well as the first player eligible for the 2022 Rolex ANNIKA Major Award. lpga.com coloradoavidgolfer.com
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