Sweden’s Madelene Sagstrom ended a five-year title drought in the T-Mobile Match Play presented by MGM Rewards, beating American Lauren Coughlin in yesterday’s final at Shadow Creek.

Sagstrom captured her second victory on the LPGA Tour by edging Coughlin 1-up in the deciding match, after both players had won their semifinal matches earlier in the day. Sagstrom overwhelmed another American, Angel Yin, 4&2 in her semifinal encounter, while Coughlin fought her way past former world number one Ariya Jutanugarn of Thailand 1-up.

The championship match saw Sagstrom storm to a 4-up lead after six holes, but Coughlin fought her way back into the match by winning holes seven, eight and nine. The American won holes 11 and 12 with pars to lead by one with six holes remaining, but a bogey at the par-three 13th allowed her opponent to square the match.

Sagstrom took a 1-up lead after winning the par-five 16th hole with a par, and the Swede hung on to seal the win.

“I really struggled quite a lot, especially with my driver, at the end of last year, and I worked so hard with Callaway and my coach, Hans. I feel so comfortable standing over the ball at the moment and, most of the time, it comes out nice. It's such a nice feeling,” said Sagstrom, whose only previous LPGA Tour win came at the Gainbridge LPGA at Boca Rio back in 2020.

Sagstrom had to play 36 holes on Sunday, as her quarterfinal match against France’s Celine Boutier was suspended after 17 holes due to fading light the day before. The Swede won on the first extra hole on Sunday morning to book her spot in the semifinals.

“I played pretty well last week and didn't make the cut. It's a fantastic feeling, knowing that all the hard work really did pay off,” noted Sagstrom.

Sagstrom is the first European winner of the T-Mobile Match Play presented by MGM Rewards and, at 32 years, 4 months and 24 days, is the oldest winner on the LPGA Tour in 2025. This was her fourth appearance at the event, with a quarterfinal performance in 2022 being her previous best result. The US$300,000 winner’s purse took Sagstrom’s LPGA Tour career earnings to US$4,845,546.

While disappointed to fall just short of earning her third career LPGA Tour title, Coughlin was pleased with the way she fought. “I think it's just who I am as a player, a grinder, and I fought all the way to the end. I don't feel like I played my best golf this week, and I still almost won. I think there's a lot of positives I can take away,” said the 32-year-old, whose last LPGA Tour victory came at the 2024 ISPS HANDA Women’s Scottish Open.

Defending champion and world number one Nelly Korda of the United States was among the players who failed to progress from the round-robin group stage.

Following a one-week break, the LPGA Tour heads to Los Angeles, California, for the JM Eagle LA Championship presented by Plastpro at El Caballero Country Club.

Japan’s rising star Rio Takeda claimed her second LPGA title at the Blue Bay LPGA in China, shooting a flawless eight-under-par 64 on Sunday to triumph by six shots from Minjee Lee of Australia.

Takeda finished with a 72-hole aggregate of 17-under-par 271 (69-69-69-64) at the Jian Lake Blue Bay Golf Course, located on the southern island of Hainan. Lee meanwhile signed in a closing 67 for an 11-under-par 277 (70-72-68-67) total, one shot ahead of another Japanese player, Ayaka Furue (68-72-70-68).

An eight-time winner on the 2024 Japan LPGA (JLPGA) Tour when she was the leading money winner, Takeda was elated at her first victory outside her home nation. Her first LPGA title came last November at the Toto Japan Classic, when she had to negotiate a dramatic six-hole playoff.

This time around, it was much more straightforward as Takeda took a two-stroke lead into the final day and cruised home with a bogey-free round.

“I'm really happy to win this tournament because the course layout is really different compared to Japanese courses. I had so many wins at the JLPGA, but this win is meaningful,” said Takeda.

“I had a couple of tough putts which were about two metres, but I managed to make them. I could win this tournament because my strongest point is my driving distance, and it worked well this tournament,” she added.

It was a disappointing tournament for home favourite Ruoning Yin, who settled for a T33 finish on two-over-par 290 (72-74-71-73).

World number two Jeeno Thitikul of Thailand closed with a 74 and was placed joint 12th on four-under-par 284 (69-73-68-74).

The Blue Bay LPGA concluded the LPGA Tour’s early season Asian swing, which started with the Honda LPGA Thailand (February 20-23 / Siam Country Club, Pattaya) and was followed by the HSBC Women's World Championship (February 27-March 2 / Sentosa Golf Club, Singapore).

Following a two-week break, the LPGA Tour will resume with the Ford Championship presented by Wild Horse Pass at Whirlwind Golf Club in Chandler, Arizona.

Korean Hyo Joo Kim claimed her seventh LPGA Tour title at the Ford Championship presented by Wild Horse Pass on Sunday, edging overnight leader Lilia Vu of the United States in a sudden-death playoff at Whirlwind Golf Club.

On an exciting final day in the Arizonian desert, Kim signed off with a superb eight-under-par 64 for a 22-under-par 266 total to catch overnight leader Vu, who shot a closing 68.

On the first playoff hole at the par-four 18th, Kim nailed her 10th birdie of the day from six feet to seal her first LPGA Tour victory since October 2023. Vu had earlier missed a 15-foot birdie attempt.

“It has been a while since the last win. I worked hard in the winter, but it was still a surprise that the win came so quickly,” said Kim, who started the final round four shots behind Vu.

“It feels great and I was just thinking, one hole at a time, one birdie at a time,” added the 29-year-old.

Kim made headlines in 2014 when she won her first and only Major at the Amundi Evian Championship as a teenager and non-LPGA member. She joined the LPGA Tour the following season and has amassed more than US$10 million in career earnings, thanks to the US$337,500 cheque she picked up for her latest win.

Vu, who was chasing her sixth LPGA Tour victory, took a lot of positives from her week. The 27-year-old has been struggling with a niggling back injury over the last few years.

“I'm proud that I kind of stuck to my weekly goal. The only goal is to be in tune with my body. This is probably the most I've felt like me in the past year and a half,” said the former world number one and two-time Major winner.

American Allisen Corpuz took third place just a shot shy of the playoff after a closing 65, with Thailand’s Jeeno Thitikul a stroke further back . Both players had been tied for the lead in the early part of the closing nine.

2024 champion and world number one Nelly Korda settled for joint 22nd on 14-under-par, falling out of contention after a third round 73.

The LPGA Tour switches into match play mode for the upcoming T-Mobile Match Play presented by MGM Rewards at Shadow Creek in Las Vegas, Nevada, where Korda is the defending champion.

Lydia Ko finally did what she had been trying to do in her last 10 appearances at the HSBC Women’s World Championship when she won the championship by four shots on her 11th attempt at the Sentosa Golf Club on Sunday.

Ko signed off with a final round three-under-par 69 to clinch her 23rd LPGA title with a winning total of 13-under-par 275. Thailand’s Jeeno Thitikul and Japan’s Ayaka Furue shared second place after posting rounds of 70 and 68 respectively while England’s Charley Hull, who started the round one shot behind Ko, posted a 74 to finish in a share of fourth place with Mexico’s Gaby Lopez and South Korea’s Im Jin-hee.

Ko, who led by one after the penultimate round, went to sleep dreaming of victory. The LPGA Hall of Famer then returned to the starting tee with a game plan, making five straight pars before extending her lead with three consecutive birdies from the par-four sixth.

“I just wanted to play steady. I started off really consistently. I hit a lot of greens, and I think that was going to be the big key. I knew that Jeeno and Charley hit it much further than me.

“The distance wasn't going to be to my advantage, but as long as I played steady golf and just give myself good looks for birdies, I felt like some of them were going to drop,” said Ko.

Ko, the Olympic champion and three-time major winner, dropped a shot on 11 but recovered with birdies on 13 and 15. A bogey on 17 did little to threaten her title bid, as she still held a four-shot cushion. A closing par on 18 sealed the victory, making her dream a reality.

“I dreamt last night that I won but then I woke up, and I was like, it's not real yet. So, I just wanted to focus on my game as it was a pretty tight leaderboard.

“I felt a lot better coming into this event than a few weeks ago. I didn’t know if I would win. But to win here in Singapore and get all the love, not only this year but for the years that I've come, it means a lot. It's also exciting to add Asia's Major to my major collection,” said Ko.

Despite falling short of a win in the Lion City, it was still a memorable week for Jeeno, who secured her 10th consecutive top-10 finish on the LPGA Tour while Ayaka had her best finish in her last four LPGA starts.

“I was frustrated with my play in the first two rounds, so this result exceeded my expectations, to be honest,” said the 22-year-old Thai.

Ayaka was also pleased with her efforts after finishing inside the top 10 for the first time this season.

“I'm very happy with this outcome because I hadn't been playing well this year until this tournament,” said the 24-year-old.
Shannon Tan, meanwhile, signed off with a 74 to finish tied-34th, which was also the best result by a Singaporean in the history of the HSBC Women’s World Championship.

“I was in the top 20 yesterday, which shows that my level is close, but there are still things to improve on,” said Tan.

The 20-year-old hopes her performance will continue to inspire more Singaporeans to play the sport even as the standard of the golf gets higher.

“It (her result) means a lot for Singapore golf. I would say in the last few years the standard of Singapore golf has gotten better.

Hiroshi will be teeing up at the Masters next month. And I guess, also, as a whole, you get to see a lot more junior golfers out there picking up the game. This week it was just me versus the golf course.”