She spoke about having a lot of tough weeks.This week and Sunday, however, was not one of those weeks. For the first time in three years, Jennifer Kupcho took home the top prize of the weekend. She won at the ShopRite LPGA Classic by one stroke.
She made birdie on the 18th to stay ahead of Ilhee Lee. The 28-year Kupcho had not won on tour since the Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational in 2022. Now she can only hope that this may lead to more opportunities this season.
She's had two top 25's this season in addition to the victory on Sunday. It seemed she may have been due. She had six top 10s a year ago. "It just feels amazing," Kupcho said. "I think I struggled a lot early in the year and had a lot of tough weeks, a lot of hard conversations, and it feels good."
Jennifer Kupcho is hoping to build momentum with this win
Now, for the American, she can only hope it leads to more success like in 2022. The last time she won happened to be the year she was victorious three times on tour. This included a win that season that the 2022 Chevron Championship.
With AIG Women's Open taking place in just two weeks, this win may have come at the right time for Kupcho.
As she was getting ready for the finale 18th hole, she spoke of what was going on inside her mind. "I really just wasn't thinking about anything else," Kupcho said. "I think in my mind I had set on 14 under, so I was really just trying to get to that number. Obviously did a little better. Yeah, just feels really nice. Just kind of stayed in my zone the whole time."
In addition to a win that resulted in a $262,500 payday, it shot her up to 20th on the Race to CME Globe standings. It also guaranteed a place in next year's Hilton Grand Tournament of Champions. The opening tournament is played by the previous two season's winners of an any competition or tournament.
She currently ranks in 10th place in Par 5 scoring average at 4.56. It shows her ability to score in the red on the par 5's throughout any tournament.
If she able to carry herself to more momentum at the Women's Open in two weeks, it could lead to another successful season. She was past due and now will look to win her second major.