The Chevron Championship delivered one of the most unforgettable finishes in recent memory last week, as the year’s first major needed a five-person playoff to decide the first major champion of the season.

However, it only took one extra hole to declare a victor, and it was Mao Saigo who rolled in a birdie on the par-5 18th hole to become a Rolex First-Time Winner and earn the first major title of her young career.

Saigo entered Sunday with a 24.4 percent chance of winning The Chevron Championship, according to KPMG Performance Insights, odds that dropped down to 2.3 percent after her bogey on 15. But the 2024 Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year still managed to squeak out a victory at The Club at Carlton Woods coming down the stretch to become the third Japanese athlete to win a major in the last two seasons.

Take a statistical look using data provided by KPMG Performance Insights at just how Saigo pulled out the win in The Woodlands, Texas and other storylines that developed at the year’s first major.

Scrappy Performance from Saigo

Saigo had some ups and downs throughout her 72-hole performance at The Chevron Championship. The 23-year-old tied 2015 Chevron winner Brittany Lincicome for the fewest number of greens hit in regulation by a winner since 2000 with 45, and while both players picked up their major victories in a playoff, they did so at different courses. Lincicome won after hitting 45 greens in regulation at Mission Hills Country Club, and Saigo did the same at The Club at Carlton Woods.

Her final-round 74 was also the second-highest final round from a winner in Chevron Championship history. Betsy King shot a closing 75 in the final round of the 1990 edition of the event, and Jennifer Kupcho won by two strokes over Jessica Korda in 2022 after carding a 74 on Sunday in Rancho Mirage, Calif.

The Japan native stood out on the par 3s, however. Of the players to make the cut, Saigo led the field in scoring on the par 3s, finishing 6-under for the week on those holes alone. She was bogey-free on the par 3s throughout the tournament, and the birdies she made on those holes accounted for 35 percent of her total birdies in The Chevron Championship.

Tough Final Round for Leaders

The Jack Nicklaus Signature Course at The Club at Carlton Woods showed its teeth during the final round, in part because of the difficult major championship conditions. No one broke 70 in the last four groups on Sunday and 10 of those 12 players shot over par.

Third-round co-leader Haeran Ryu was one of the athletes who shot over par in the final round. Since joining the LPGA Tour in 2022, Ryu has held or shared the 54-hole lead three times before the 2025 Chevron Championship, failing to convert any of the first three leads into victories.

Last week followed that trend, as Ryu carded a 4-over 76 in the final round, missing the playoff by two shots. This is the second year in a row that Ryu has held or shared the 54-hole lead in this major, and in 2024, she turned in a 2-over 74 on Sunday to finish in a tie for fifth. While it was not the ideal final round for Ryu, she ended the week on a high note, chipping in for her only eagle of the week on the 72nd hole of the tournament.

The scoring average for the 12 players in the final four groups was 74.67, and they combined to shoot 32-over for the day, according to KPMG Performance Insights. The two players to card a final round of par or better were Ruoning Yin and Ariya Jutanugarn, who both shot 1-under 71s.

Duncan Rides Hot Putter

Lindy Duncan found herself in the five-person playoff at the end of The Chevron Championship, mostly due to her putting throughout the week.

The second round was when the 34-year-old's flatstick really got hot, as she made over 157 feet of putts on Friday. Duncan had 24 total putts in round two, making five putts of 10+ feet and three that were 20 feet or longer. But maybe most importantly, the veteran was 5-for-5 in making putts from 5 to 10 feet.

The putting performance gave Duncan her best finish in a major championship in her career and her best result in an LPGA Tour event since she finished runner-up at the 2018 Volunteers of America LPGA Texas Classic. Because of her T2 result in The Woodlands, Texas, Duncan is now ranked 10th on the Official Money List, 18th in the Race to the CME Globe and 52nd in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings.

Behind the Leaderboard – The 2025 Chevron Championship

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