Whiff, slow play, controversy, 3-putt, winner: Chevron’s 18th brings tragedy, triumph

As far as dramatic golf holes go, it’s tough to outdo the 72nd hole of a major championship.

But even by those standards, the finish to the Chevron Championship, the first women’s major of 2025, was insane.

Golf’s very best and worst, its most dramatic and most controversial, its triumph and its tragedy — they all came together on its final hole.

And then they played it again.

You want sports tragedy? Enter Ariya Jutanugarn, who came to the par-5 18th needing, in all likelihood, par to win the tournament. Things started dramatically when she pushed her tee shot to the right (rather than the left) of a tree off the tee. All good — she snuck through the branches.

But her second shot introduced another layer of controversy; after a lengthy discussion, she and her caddie decided to go full send over the pond guarding the front of the green and so she played an approach that landed on the green and then ricocheted off the controversial grandstand setup lurking just beyond. The location of these bleachers has drawn plenty of criticism for essentially taking the risk out of going long; Sunday’s final groups provided plenty of evidence.

It was a smart play for Jutanugarn, though; her chances looked even better once her second had settled just over the green and left an up-and-down for birdie that would definitely seal the deal.

Things didn’t work out that way.

Instead Jutanugarn barely made contact at all. It was tough to tell in real time whether she had, in fact, meant to hit the ball. A chip and two putts later and she was in for bogey and 7 under par.

“I’m almost speechless, Terry,” analyst Morgan Pressel told her partner Terry Gannon on the broadcast.

Jutanugarn’s tragic finish didn’t doom her chances, though: she joined Hyo Joo Kim, who had already fired one of the rounds of the day, a two-under 70, to post 7 under. They’d soon have company. Jutanugarn’s playing partner, World No. 6 Ronni Yin, executed an up-and-down for birdie to join the group at 7 under.

The final group of the day arrived at the 18th tee with two players at 6 under par but then both Lindy Duncan and Mao Saigo played their second shots greenside before enduring a lengthy wait; playing partner Haeran Ryu took a while to make up her mind on her own second shot before taking an extra club and nuking one over the green and into the crowd in the bleachers. She took a while longer figuring out a drop, effectively icing her playing partners. And then Ryu added to the chaos with a stroke of brilliance, chipping a long curler that rolled into the cup for an eagle 3.

It was no small feat, then, when Duncan and Saigo subsequently got up and down for birdie, beating the freeze and the pressure as they each sent mid-range curlers into the middle.

Suddenly there were five players at 7 under. And they were headed back to the tee, ensuring that the chaotic 72nd hole would also be a chaotic 73rd.

All five hit it in play off the tee. Yin held the advantage after their respective second shots, hitting a terrific fairway-wood approach that just carried the diving dock (I told you this hole was nuts), somehow held the rock-hard green and left her with a good look at eagle. Duncan laid up, but the three others ended up greenside.

But then? More madness.

At first it seemed a certainty that several players would make birdie; the only question was whether that would be good enough to play on. Instead Yin, putting for the win, smashed her slippery eagle putt well past the hole. Then she missed the comebacker. Duncan’s third shot left her without much of a look for birdie. Kim missed her birdie try. And Jutanugarn, adding to her heartbreak, horseshoed her own birdie try.

That left Saigo, the 23-year-old rising star from Japan. She finished off a three-footer for birdie, exhaled, smiled, hugged her caddie and then hugged each of her vanquished competitors — officially the last golfer standing.

There are sure to be postscripts on the tournament, on its final hole, on changes that could or should be made going forward. But there was no doubting that just one among them, Saigo, had made 4 in regulation and another 4 to win.

The only thing left was a celebratory leap into the pond she’d so successfully avoided until then.