Miyu Yamashita won the Meijer LPGA Classic for Simply Give in a playoff on Sunday after Lottie Woad missed a three-foot par putt on the 72nd hole that would have sealed the title in regulation. Yamashita, who started the final round five shots back, fired an 8-under 64 to force the extra hole at Blythefield Country Club in Belmont, Michigan.
Both players finished regulation at 17-under 271, with Woad carding a 68. Yamashita then birdied the first playoff hole, the par-5 18th, to claim her third LPGA Tour victory.
The final hole
Woad appeared to have the tournament won after holing out from a greenside bunker for birdie at the 17th, a shot that maintained her cushion heading to the last. But the 22-year-old Englishwoman missed the short par putt at 18, lipping out on the high side and giving Yamashita another chance.
“Felt like I hit an OK putt,”
“Obviously, lipped out on the high side.”
Yamashita had already birdied the 18th in regulation to post the clubhouse target. In the playoff, she rolled in a four-foot birdie putt after Woad missed a longer birdie attempt.
Yamashita’s Sunday card
Yamashita’s 64 included nine birdies against a single bogey at the par-3 15th. The 24-year-old Japanese player, who is the reigning AIG Women’s Open champion and the 2025 LPGA Rookie of the Year, said she never expected a playoff to materialise.
“I didn’t think about like win today,” Yamashita said. “I just focused on playing just like every round. My putting was solid today and I was able to put together a really good round.”
On the sudden shift to extra holes, she said:
“I really didn’t expect like it’s going to be playoff, but once it did, I was able to reset mentally and focus on the task at hand. I’m glad I was able to take advantage of the opportunity and turn it into a win.”
Before joining the LPGA Tour, Yamashita had won 13 times on the JLPGA.
Woad’s missed milestone
Woad, from Farnham in Surrey, had won the Kroger Queen City Championship in Cincinnati in May for her second LPGA Tour title. A victory at the Meijer would have made her the first Englishwoman since Karen Stupples in 2004 to win multiple times in the same season.
“I mean, I would always go for it in two, but kind of wishing I didn’t now,” Woad said of her approach on the final hole. “Hopefully next week is my week instead.”
Wei-Ling Hsu and Liu Yan tied for third at 15-under.
Simon Bale
Simon Bale is the publisher of Golf Today. A low single-figure handicap golfer, he was previously a major shareholder and course reviewer for Top100GolfCourses.com for over a decade, starting in 2010. Through this role, he developed extensive knowledge of golf course design and architecture while playing more than 300 courses worldwide.