Choi Hye-jin runner-up again, setting unwanted LPGA record with 10th second-place finish

Choi Hye-jin surrendered a late lead at The ANNIKA Driven by Gainbridge at Pelican on the LPGA Tour, missing out on a first career victory and setting an unwanted record in the process — becoming the first player since records began in 1981 to finish runner-up 10 times on the LPGA Tour without a win.

In the final round Monday (Korean Standard Time) at Pelican Golf Club (par 70) in Belleair, Florida, Choi carded four birdies and two bogeys for a 2-under-par 68. Her total of 14 under par 266 left her two strokes behind winner Lindy Duncan of the United States, who closed at 16 under par 264, and Choi finished alone in second place.

Choi entered the final round one stroke behind Duncan and quickly seized the lead, making three birdies on the front nine. She birdied the fifth hole (par 4), then added consecutive birdies on the seventh (par 5) and eighth (par 4). A birdie on the 11th hole (par 4) moved her into sole possession of the lead.

The momentum shifted on the 13th hole (par 4), where a three-putt bogey cost her the advantage. Another bogey on the 15th (par 3) allowed Duncan to pull level. While Choi made consecutive pars on the 16th and 17th holes, Duncan birdied both to pull away and decide the contest.

Duncan sank a birdie putt of about 1.8 meters on the 16th, then holed one of more than 6 meters on the 17th to open a two-stroke lead. Choi could not make up the deficit on the 18th.

The runner-up finish was Choi's 10th on the LPGA Tour. According to sports data firm Elias Sports Bureau, she is the first player since tracking began in 1981 to record that many runner-up finishes on the LPGA Tour without a win. She had already set the record with her ninth runner-up finish last month and extended it to 10 at this event. Canada's Lorie Kane had previously held the mark with nine runner-up finishes before a win, claiming her first title at the 2000 Michelob Classic.

Choi's runner-up finishes stretch back to the 2017 US Women's Open as an amateur, followed by the 2018 Australian Women's Open and the 2020 AIG Women's Open. After joining the LPGA Tour full-time in 2022, she finished second at the CP Women's Open that year, then at the Meijer LPGA Classic and the Maybank Championship last year.

This year, Choi finished runner-up at the Dow Championship alongside Kim Hyo-joo, then placed second in back-to-back weeks last month at the Buick LPGA Shanghai and the BMW Ladies Championship. The ANNIKA marked her fourth runner-up finish of the season.

Duncan, 35, claimed her first LPGA Tour victory in her 222nd start since her 2014 debut, taking home a winner's check of $487,500.

Ryu Hae-ran, returning from a finger injury, shot a final-round 4-under-par 66 to finish at 13 under par 267, tying Yuri Yoshida of Japan for third place. World No. 1 Nelly Korda of the United States finished seventh at 10 under par 270.

Yun I-na tied for ninth at 8 under par 272, Kim A-lim tied for 14th at 6 under par 274, and Ko Jin-young finished 16th at 5 under par 275.