LOS ANGELES – Ingrid Lindblad won the JM Eagle LA Championship on Sunday in his third start as a member of the LPGA Tour.
“You shouldn’t expect that, do you?” Lindbrad said. “But obviously we did that with the couple’s start. It’s kind of crazy.”
Playing the group ahead of Iwai, Lindblad shot a 4-under 68 and finished with a 21-under 277. The 25-year-old former Sweden star made the final six birdies on the PAR-5 11th, skewing the final seven holes. She had two front bogeys.
“I felt like I could have made a few more birdies on the back nine, but I really didn’t want to fall. I feel like I’m trying to like whether you’re a 5-under par or a 5-over par. I just stay in that moment and don’t show any emotion. But sometimes I don’t show any emotion.”
Iwai tracked a 64 in three rounds with a 69 and got a stroke short.
“Yeah, I was confident, but I’m losing this week,” Iwa said. “But I’m confident. Just keep going, little by little, this week, next week, next week.”
Twin sister of the 22-year-old Japanese player, Cissart, was tied to 11th place at 15 after the age of 68. The sisters played each other on Saturday.
Yiwai had Lindblad at age 21 along with Birdie on the par 5 16th. Her drive left and bouncing back twice with a kart pass, rock hit a low cut around the tree to the green leading edge, rolling a 75-foot Eagle Putt to an inch.
On the par 4 on the 18th, Iwa drove right through the bunker, bouncing off the flag and hitting 150-9 irons away from the back edge.
“Maybe I have adrenaline,” Iwako said. “But I don’t like short.”
From the good lie of a choppy rough, she went through the hole and ran downhill chips, missing the cambucker.
“It was a tough putt,” she said.
Lindblad took a break in par 4 13th place as the drive slammed the tree on the left and bounced back into the fairway. She shook the hole to maintain a two-stroke lead.
“I don’t know the guy on camera there, but he said, “There was a little squirrel there who was kind to you and hit the fairway,” Lindblad said.
Lauren Coughlin (70), Esther Henseleit (64) and Yayu Yayu (66) finished third with a 19 under. Nasa Hataoka has a 63 now 18 under.
Hannah Green, the winner of each of the past two seasons at Wilshire Country Club, finished ninth at 67 at 16 under. Jeeno Thitikul, who came in second, was also 16 years old after being 69.
Top-ranked Nelly Korda had a 72, 16th in the final start, with 14 before his title defense at the Major Chevron Championship. The major event will begin on Thursday outside Houston, Woodlands.
The tournament – the final event of the tour’s west coast swing – took place at El Caballero for renovations in Wilshire. I’ll be back in Wilshire next season.
Lindblad also shot 68 in the first and second rounds, earning 63 on Friday.
“I feel like I’ve played quite offensively all week,” Lindblad said. “I think if we were trying to get too defensive, it would just hurt me. It felt like we were stuck on the same game plan as the first three days and it turned out that it really worked.”