[Photos: Julio Aguilar]
The Swedish flags were flying high in Florida – Linn Grant won her second LPGA event, The Annika, named after her idol and fellow countrywoman Annika Sorenstam. A worthy Swedish champion at a tournament hosted by the nation’s greatest golfer.
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Grant started the third round with a one-shot lead over Jennifer Kupcho. Grant parred the first hole and Kupcho birdied it, creating an immediate tie. Grant said it suddenly made the front nine feel like matchplay.
“We were going back and forth and giving each other thumbs up,” Grant said. “I’m glad she was playing well because I think that really pushed me to play better.”
Kupcho helped push Grant to a five-under 65 on the final day, the same score she’d shot a day earlier. That brought Grant to 19-under total for the tournament and a comfortable three-shot win over Kupcho.
Grace Kim, who shared the lead at the halfway mark, was the leading Australian at The Annika. She closed with a 69 to finish 12-under and tied for ninth. Karis Davidson (66) finished equal 13th at 10-under, with Hannah Green (67, T-15) a shot further adrift.
The 26-year-old Swede turned in some of the cleanest of scorecards. She went 52 holes without a bogey. It would’ve been 53 holes, but she was delicate with a par attempt on the 72nd green, knowing she didn’t have to make it, and missed on the low side.
“I feel like in the past years that score would’ve won,” Kupcho said of her 16-under total. “Linn just played amazing. She hit so many good shots this weekend. I played with her both days. Unbelievable golf by her. So there is nothing you can really do when you’re playing against someone that’s playing really well.”
However, Kupcho collected the ultimate consolation prize by winning the Aon Risk Reward Challenge and the $US1 million prize that comes with winning the season-long competition for navigating the most difficult holes on tour. She also took home $US303,994 for her second-place finish in the event.
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Grant, who joined the LPGA in 2022, has made winning events hosted by Sorenstam a habit. She played in Annika’s junior events as a teenager. In 2022, Grant became the first woman to win on the DP World Tour when she won the Volvo Car Scandinavian Mixed tournament. The event’s field included both men and women, playing from different tees but for the same prize, and was co-hosted by Sorenstam and Henrik Stenson. Grant won it again in 2024, making it only fitting that her second LPGA victory comes at an event hosted by the legend.
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“We were talking about it yesterday, how full circle it is,” Grant said. “I’ve been playing in her events and it’s just so fun to obviously win anything, but to stand here with her tournament…”
Grant is part of what has become a bizarre streak; she is the 29th different winner on the LPGA in 2025, a record on the tour. Never before have so many different players won tournaments in a single season. Surprisingly, Nelly Korda is not one of those who have won this season after winning seven times a year ago. This week she tied for 15th place at the event she’s won three times.
Grant meanwhile hopes to ride this momentum into next week and become a two-time winner this season. The winner of the CME Group Tour Championship in Naples, Florida, will take home $US4 million, the largest cheque awarded in women’s golf.
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