Lottie Woad had all but made it official, needing just an 18-inch putt on the final hole Sunday to win the Meijer LPGA Classic.

She had just dazzled on the 17th hole, holing out from a greenside bunker at Blythefield Country Club to take a one-shot lead into the final hole. Major winner Miyu Yamashita, who had already finished her round, wasn’t warming up for a potential playoff. She was standing and watching.

Then the unthinkable happened. The usually unflappable Woad—ranked seventh in the world—missed her short putt. It lipped out and she three-putted for bogey, sending the tournament into a playoff.

World No. 8 Yamashita shot a final-round eight-under 64 and won the first playoff hole, making a four-foot birdie putt to win. Woad had to return to the same green where she had just missed a short putt.

“I went pretty straight, left-centre. I mean, it went left on me,” Woad said. “I’m not sure if that was me or the green or it’s late in the day. A lot of people played. Could have been any of those things. But, yeah, missed.”

The 22-year-old Woad was in control most of the day and week in Belmont, Mich. Yamashita took over the lead briefly on the back nine, but Woad got it back. She was on the cusp of her third career victory and the one-year anniversary of her LPGA debut is still a month away. Woad won in her first event, the Scottish Open, and is being hailed as one of the next biggest young stars on tour. She proved she’s human, and the head-scratching missed putt will clearly sting for a while. Especially after she was on such a high after that perfect bunker shot on the 17th.

“Obviously, 17 was pretty, a bonus. Didn’t have the easiest bunker shot and obviously made it. Thought it was going a little bit past, so was happy with that,” Woad said. “And 18, hit a decent tee shot. I would always go for it in two, but kind of wishing I didn’t now. Next time I think I should have laid up and tried to chip on. Been going for it every day, so I thought might as well. Got a pretty bad lie in the rough and hit an OK shot. Yeah, obviously wish I got the first putt a little closer and kind of wish I putted first, too, instead of watching Cassie [Porter’s] putt. Kind of tricked me.

“Felt like I hit an OK putt. Obviously lipped out on the high side. Miyu played great in the playoff hole.”

This had shades of the Kroger Queen City Championship last year when then World No. 1 Jeeno Thitikul four-putted the final hole to lose. Three of those putts were three feet or closer. Charley Hull—the eventual winner—wasn’t even watching Thitikul. No one expected that kind of collapse.

As improbable as it was for Woad to lose on Sunday, it seemed just as improbable for Yamashita to win, given that she was five shots back when the final round started. Yamashita won the $487,500 prize from the $3.25 million purse. Yamashita—who won her third career LPGA event—improved each day of the tournament, going 72-68-67-64 for a 17-under-par 271 total to win. She got into the playoff because of Woad’s devastating miss and took advantage to the opportunity and closed it out on the last hole.

“I was able to put together a solid round, and it all felt pretty natural out there,” Yamashita said through an interpreter. “Lottie played really well too. I honestly didn’t expect it to end up in a playoff.”

No one did.

Now, Yamashita goes into the KMPG Women’s PGA Championship this week at Hazeltine National, the third major of the year, with plenty of confidence and Woad heads into the major trying to figure out what in the world happened on that putting green. World No. 1 Nelly Korda—who didn’t play in the Meijer Classic—has already won the first two majors of the year, the Chevron Championship and U.S. Women’s Open, and is undoubtedly the player to beat.

“Definitely felt like played good this week, obviously. Felt pretty comfortable in the final group the last two days,” Woad said. “Just kept myself in it. Made a lot of clutch putts this week, so I’m going to try and shake off this missed one. Hopefully, next week is my week instead.”

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Main Image: Raj Mehta