Miyu Yamashita defeated Lottie Woad in a playoff for her first LPGA Tour win this season at the 2026 Meijer LPGA Classic.
In another thrilling week on the LPGA Tour, fans saw two of the best young talents in the world battle for the win. Going into Sunday’s final round, Jing Yan led the tournament, with Lottie Woad one stroke behind and Cassie Porter two strokes behind. Yamashita started the final round five shots back from Yan.
Yan did not play poorly, matching every bogey with a birdie, shooting even until the final hole, where she bogeyed for a final round of 73 (+1). Yamashita and Woad separated themselves from the rest of the contenders with front nine scores of 31 (-5) and 33 (-3). Yamashita continued her electric play with four more birdies on the back for a score of 64 (-8). After making two birdies on the back (including a holed-out sand shot on the 17th to lead by one), Woad needed a par to win; however, she made par on the par-5 18th to enter into a playoff with Yamashita.
The two players played the 18th hole for the playoff. Unfortunately for viewers, the stellar tournament came to a swift end, with Yamashita making a birdie to Woad’s par on the first playoff hole. Although she played extremely well, Yamashita was surprised by how the tournament ended.
“I was able to put together a solid round, and it all felt pretty natural out there. Lottie played really well, too. I honestly didn’t expect it to end up in a playoff,” she said.
The 2025 Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year has been excellent in her career on the LPGA Tour with three wins, including a major at the 2025 AIG Women’s Open. With her win, she earned $487,500 in prize money and 500 points in the season-long competition, Race to CME Globe.
Although Woad did not win, she has played very well this season. She has made 11 cuts in 12 starts, with five top 10s. Woad also has a win at the Kroger Queen City Championship presented by P&G. Woad was optimistic for next week after her runner-up finish.
“Definitely felt like I played well this week, obviously. Felt pretty comfortable in the final group the last two days. Just kept myself in it. Made a lot of clutch putts this week, so I’m going to try to shake off this missed one. Yeah, just hopefully next week is my week instead,” she said.
The LPGA Tour will continue next week with its third major this season at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship. The tournament will be held at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, MN. Minjee Lee will look to defend her title, while Nelly Korda will look to win her third major in a row.
