Popov beats Jasmine of Thailand for first Major victory

Jasmine Suwannapura (Credit to LPGA)

 

LEADERBOARD
	Player	To Par	Score
1	Sophia Popov	-7	70-72-67-68
2	Jasmine Suwannapura	-5	71-72-69-67
3	Minjee Lee	-3	74-69-69-69
4	Inbee Park	-1	77-69-71-66

 

With the win, Popov earns LPGA Tour Membership through the 2021 season. She also becomes the first player from Germany to win a women’s major championship and just the third German player to win a major, joining Martin Kaymer and Bernhard Langer.

 

“It feels amazing. There's a lot of hard work behind it, and a lot of struggles that I went through the last six years, especially health-wise, and I'm just glad I was able to overcome everything and just keep my head in it,” said Popov through tears as she cradled the trophy in her arms. “I knew I was capable. I just had a lot of obstacles thrown in my way, and I just, I'm glad I stuck with it. I almost quit playing last year, so thank God I didn't.”

 

Starting the fourth round with a three-stroke lead, Popov got off to a difficult start with a bogey at the first hole. But any nerves quickly dissipated, with a 10-foot birdie at No. 2 and a 15-footer at No. 3 extending her advantage to four strokes.

 

“I told my boyfriend (Max Mehles, her caddie), I said, ‘That's all right. We're going to make bogeys out here. It's fine. But we have plenty of opportunities for birdies.’ And you know, the next hole, right away I hit it close,” said Popov. “After that birdie … my nerves went down and I settled in a little bit, too.”

 

Birdies at 15 and 16 gave Popov a three-stroke lead over a surging Suwannapura going to the closing hole. As she stepped onto the 18th green, Popov caught her first glimpse of a leaderboard and finally knew where she stood. With the green ringed by her fellow players and tournament officials and with tears in her eyes, Popov knocked home a short bogey putt and raised her arms to the sky. Van Dam, the best friend whose bag she toted in Ohio, showered her with champagne and celebrated the LPGA Tour’s newest major champion.

 

“It was all about getting it together during the right weeks, and for me honestly my biggest goal was to win an LPGA event, period,” said Popov. “For it to be a major right off the bat, it was obviously more than I could have hoped for but also something that I did know I was capable of.”

 

Suwannapura did not let Popov run away with the title. Playing one group ahead of Popov, the Thailand native and two-time LPGA Tour winner birdied four consecutive holes at 4-7 to make a run at her first major title. But she ran out of gas on the back nine, coming up just short of the title but earning her career-best major finish.

 

“There's a lot of up-and-downs. I feel like I had three-putts which is a little sad for me,” said Suwannapura. “But I may be had some rain, little windy but today I feel like I did really good. Hit a lot of good shots and made a lot of putts and overall, I'm happy about this week for sure.”

 

Minjee Lee took solo third at -3, with seven-time major winner Inbee Park tying the low round of the tournament with a fourth-round 66 and taking solo fourth at -1. Austin Ernst rounded out the top five at Even.

 

SOPHIA POPOV’S LPGA TOUR MEMBERSHIP AND ELIGIBILITY

Following her victory, Sophia Popov officially accepted LPGA Tour Membership. She first earned LPGA Tour Membership in 2015 but played conditionally through 2019. Heading into the 2020 season, Popov had no LPGA Tour status, instead playing full time on the Symetra Tour.

 

Popov’s first eligible tournament as an LPGA Tour Member is the Cambia Portland Classic, being held Sept. 17-20. While she is not eligible for the ANA Inspiration in two weeks, her exemption into that major championship will begin in 2021.

 

This win at the AIG Women’s Open caps a whirlwind month for Popov. She started the LPGA Tour’s resumption by caddying for her best friend Anne van Dam four weeks ago at the LPGA Drive On Championship. The following week, Popov tied for ninth at the LPGA Tour’s Marathon LPGA Classic in Ohio, where she earned one of 10 qualifying spots for this week’s major.

 

Popov then flew to Arizona, where she tied for second at the Symetra Tour’s Founders Tribute at Longbow Golf Club. She finally traveled to Scotland on Monday and only had one practice round on Royal Troon before teeing it up in Thursday’s first round.

 

SOPHIA POPOV REVEALS BATTLE WITH LYME DISEASE

Three years ago, Sophia Popov received a diagnosis that finally made the last few years make sense. In her winner’s interview after capturing the 2020 AIG Women’s Open title, Popov revealed an extended battle with Lyme Disease that kept her health and her golf game at bay for several years.

 

“My rookie year, I started having a lot of health issues, and honestly we didn't even know what it was. It took a total of about 20 doctor visits three years later to figure out that I had Lyme disease,” said Popov. “At that point it was so chronic, though, that I had just been struggling a lot with fatigue, and honestly, I had like 10 different symptoms and it was just very, it was a tough time to go through just because I didn't know what it was, and it took so long to pinpoint exactly what was going on.”

 

Popov lost 25 pounds and had to work hard to regain the energy and stamina that was zapped by the disease. She is still very mindful of her diet and exercise to keep the illness from creeping back.

 

“I'm very disciplined as far as, you know, my health goes, my nutrition goes and working out and doing everything in my power to have as little as possible symptoms, and round, I have it under control really well. I want to keep it that way,” said Popov. “It was a long road to get here because there was a lot of personal research and figuring out on my own what would make me feel better, and I'm glad I got to the point where I'm feeling pretty good, and hopefully it stays that way.”

 

CME GROUP CARES CHALLENGE – SCORE 1 FOR ST. JUDE

The CME Group Cares Challenge is a season-long charitable giving program that turns aces into donations. CME Group donated $20,000 for each hole-in-one made on the LPGA Tour in 2019, with a minimum guaranteed donation of $500,000 to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, which is leading the way in how the world understands, treats and defeats childhood cancer and other life-threatening diseases.

 

There were no holes-in-one at the 2020 AIG Women’s Open. The 2020 season has seen five aces, for a total of $100,000 donated to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

 

The 2019 LPGA Tour season saw 32 aces from 31 different players, for a total of $620,000. This more than covers the average cost of $425,000 needed to treat a pediatric cancer patient.

 

PLAYER NOTES

Rolex Rankings No. 304 Sophia Popov (70-72-67-68)

• She hit eight of 14 fairways and 15 of 18 greens, with 30 putts
• Popov has 2020 Symetra Tour Membership; she tied for second at last week’s Founders Tribute at Longbow Golf Club in Arizona
• This is Popov’s second event of the 2020 LPGA Tour season; she tied for ninth at the Marathon LPGA Classic presented by Dana
• This is Popov’s second appearance in the AIG Women’s Open; she finished 67th in 2011
• Born in Massachusetts, but moved to Germany as a child and holds dual citizenship
• This is her 34th LPGA Tour appearance
• Played full-time on the LPGA Tour in 2015, 2018 and 2019, but lost her LPGA Tour Membership for 2020 and is a full-time Member on the Symetra Tour
• Tied for ninth two weeks ago at the LPGA Tour’s Marathon LPGA Classic in Ohio, but her earnings and statistics were unofficial as she did not hold LPGA Tour Membership
• Tied for second last week at the Symetra Tour’s Founders Tribute at Longbow Golf Club before flying to Scotland for this week’s AIG Women’s Open
• Won three Cactus Tour events during the LPGA and Symetra Tour’s coronavirus-related shutdown
• Played collegiate golf at the University of Southern California, where she was a three-time All-Pac 12 First Team selection (2011, 2013, 2014) and 2011 Pac-10 Freshman of the Year
• While at USC, she was a member of the 2013 NCAA Championship-winning team