Grant breezes to 2nd LPGA title at The Annika

BELLEAIR, Fla. -- Linn Grant of Sweden had so much control of her game that she played 52 holes consecutive holes without a bogey, a streak that ended on the final hole Sunday when it no longer mattered. She closed with a 5-under 65 for a three-shot victory over Jennifer Kupcho in The Annika.

It was Grant's second LPGA title, and the second time she received a trophy from Swedish great and tournament host Annika Sorenstam. Grant won the Scandinavian Mixed in Sweden when Sorenstam and Henrik Stenson were co-hosts.

"You made this course look easy. It's not easy," Sorenstam told her on the 18th green.

It must have felt that way to Grant, who was never under much stress. She finished at 19-under 261 and had a chance to set the tournament record until a bogey on the final hole, her first one since her opening hole Friday.

"There are weeks where everyone feels like their game is really good and there could potentially be a win. It's just really nice to like see it go all the way and to really walk off 18 and be able to pat yourself on the shoulder and feel like I actually did it this week," Grant said.

She is the first Swedish winner of the tournament that began in 2020, even more meaningful to Grant because she remembers going to clinics Sorenstam held in Sweden when she was a girl and recalls watching Sorenstam hit wedges to someone catching them with a baseball glove.

"I started doing that with my dad, so thanks for that," Grant told Sorenstam.

Kupcho birdied the first hole to tie for the lead, but only briefly. Grant birdied the next hole and never trailed again. The Swede had to make a 15-foot birdie putt to stay one ahead through five holes, and then she seized control on the par-3 ninth.

Kupcho made her second bogey of the front nine, and Grant rolled in a 10-foot birdie putt to extend the lead to three shots. No one got any closer the rest of the way.

Kupcho also closed with a 65.

"I'm glad she was playing well because I think that really pushed me to play better," Grant said. "And overall, I just had the thought of whoever wins is going to have a really good job."

Gaby Lopez of Mexico birdied four of her last six holes for a 65 to finish third.

Brooke Matthews also came away a winner in two respects. She made a hole-in-one with a 9-iron from 140 yards on the 12th hole to win a two-year lease on a Lamborghini Huracán. Two holes later, Matthews chipped in for eagle and all those great shots mattered.

It added to a 65 -- a card that included scores of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 -- to tie for ninth, giving her enough points to move into the top 60 of the Race to the CME Globe. That qualifies her for next week's season-ending CME Group Tour Championship, where the winner gets $4 million.

"It was wild," Matthews said. "All week I was like, 'I want to win the Lamborghini.' ... Just saw it bounce. I still can't believe it. I blacked out. I can't wait to watch it on film because I still can't really remember it."

Nataliya Guseva had her own big moment. She holed out with a gap wedge from 109 yards on the final hole for birdie -- she had to lay up out of a fairway bunker -- giving her a 68 that moved the Russian into the top 60.

Lucy Li also advances to next week down the coast in Naples. Her birdie on the final hole gave her a 66 and moved her up 13 spots to No. 58.

Grant was running out of time to extend her streak of winning each year somewhere in the world dating to 2020, when she was still an amateur and won twice on the Nordic Golf League. She has won titles on the LPGA, Ladies European Tour, LET Access Series, Ladies Sunshine Tour, Nordic Golf League and even the European Tour, which co-sanctioned the Scandinavian Mixed.

"My dad is a man of good words," she said. "When he looked at someone else's career he always said, 'If you have a win every year that's pretty solid.' I guess that's what it is."

Defending champion Nelly Korda, a three-time winner at Pelican Golf Club, started six shots behind and couldn't keep pace with Grand. She closed with a 69 and tied for 15th.