Jennifer Kupcho ends LPGA title drought with ShopRite Classic crown

NEW YORK – Jennifer Kupcho rolled in a birdie putt at the final hole for a one-shot victory over Lee Il-hee at the ShopRite Classic on June 8, capturing her first LPGA Tour title since 2022.

“It feels amazing,” said Kupcho, a stellar amateur whose three LPGA titles in 2022 included a Major at the Chevron Championship.

“I struggled a lot early in the year and had a lot of tough weeks, a lot of hard conversations, and it feels good,” added the 28-year-old American, who birdied three of the last five holes to seal the win with a five-under final round of 66.

Kupcho was one of four players to start the day one shot behind South Korea’s Lee and she gained ground quickly with birdies at the second, third and fifth holes.

Bogeys at the sixth and 11th were sandwiched around a birdie at the ninth, and Kupcho came home strong with birdies at Nos. 14, 16 and 18 for a 15-under 198 total in the 54-hole event at the Seaview in Galloway, New Jersey.

Lee’s hopes of adding a second LPGA title to her 2013 triumph in the Bahamas took a big hit as she bogeyed the first, third and seventh holes.

But the 36-year-old, whose career has been derailed by a debilitating shoulder injury, rebounded with three straight birdies at the ninth, 10th and 11th.

She was right back in the mix with a birdie at No. 14, but back-to-back birdies at the closing two holes were not quite enough as her 68 left her on 199.

“I had a couple of bad bounces on the first hole and third hole. I was just thinking, it’s just golf,” Lee said.

“I was just trying the same things, same chipping, same putts... trying to move my lower body a little bit because I was kind of a little bit shaky because it was first time for me to start as a leader, so I was kind of nervous. I got through (that) pretty quick and I finished great.”

South Korean Kim Sei-young carded a 65 that included a hole-in-one eagle at the 17th and a birdie at the last and gave her sole possession of third place on 201.

She teed off well before the leaders on a rainy, blustery day and had just two pars on a back nine that featured three straight birdies from the 11th hole before a double-bogey at No. 14 and a bogey at No. 15.

“It was like a roller coaster, up and down, up and down,” said Kim, adding that after her three birdies in a row she thought she was within striking distance of a victory.

“That thinking made me a little bit nervous, that’s why my tee shot at hole 14 goes way right,” she said.

Nevertheless, with the tee moved up at No. 17, she knew she had a chance to make something happen and her wedge shot from off the tee found the cup for her third ace as a pro – two on the LPGA Tour and one on the Korean LPGA.

“Always, it feels great. Amazing,” she said.

Japan’s Ayaka Furue (70) was fourth at 202, while six golfers tied for fifth at 203 including Japan’s Mao Saigo (71), the 2025 Chevron Championship winner.

On the PGA Tour, New Zealand’s Ryan Fox had a dynamic putt to extend the RBC Canadian Open and later used an awesome rip from the fairway to help secure a victory.

He birdied the fourth play-off hole to win a showdown with American Sam Burns and capture the tournament on June 8 in Caledon, Ontario.

He notched a four-under 66 in the final round, forcing the play-off with a birdie putt from about 17 feet on the last hole of regulation, on the way to his second career victory. Both triumphs have come across his last four tournaments.

Burns shot 62 to set the clubhouse lead and then waited a couple of hours in an attempt to notch his first PGA Tour victory in more than two years.

Burns and Fox finished at 18-under 262 at the North Course of TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley. The duo played the par-five 18th repeatedly in the play-off until a winner was determined. They each recorded pars the first three times.

“Sam and I had a bit of a pillow fight there for three holes. It was some pretty average golf from both of us,” Fox said.

Chinese Taipei’s Kevin Yu posted a 66 for third place at 263. AFP