Ingrid Lindblad wins JM Eagle LA Championship in 3rd start as LPGA Tour member

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Ingrid Lindblad won the JM Eagle LA Championship on Sunday in her third start as an LPGA Tour member, avoiding a playoff when fellow rookie Akie Iwai bogeyed the final hole at El Caballero Country Club.

“You should never not expect it, right?” Lindblad said. “But obviously got it done in a couple starts. Just kind of crazy.”

Playing a group ahead of Iwai, Lindblad shot a 4-under 68 to finish at 21-under 277. The 25-year-old former LSU star from Sweden made the last of her six birdies on the par-5 11th and parred the final seven holes. She had two front-nine bogeys.

“Felt like I could have made a couple more birdies on the back nine but nothing really wanted to drop. I feel like I was just trying to like be where you can’t see if you’re 5-under par or 5-over par. Just staying in the moment and show no emotion. But sometimes it’s hard to show no emotion.”

Iwai followed a third-round 64 with a 69 to fall a stroke short.

“I got confidence, yeah, but I lose this week,” Iwai said. “But I got confidence, a lot. Little by little, this week, next week, the next week, just keep going”

The 22-year-old Japanese player's twin sister, Chisato, tied for 11th at 15 under after a 68. The sisters played alongside each other Saturday.

Iwai pulled even with Lindblad at 21 under with a birdie on the par-5 16th. After her drive went left and bounced twice on the cart path, Iwai hit a low cut around a tree to the front edge of the green and rolled a 75-foot eagle putt to inches.

On the par-4 18th, Iwai drove to the right over a bunker into rough, then hit a 9-iron from 150 that bounced near the flag and went off the back edge.

“Maybe I have adrenaline,” Iwai said. “But I don’t like short.”

From a good lie in choppy rough, she ran the downhill chip past the hole and missed the comebacker.

“That was a tough putt,” she said.

Lindblad got a break on the par-4 13th when her drive struck a tree on the left side and bounced into the fairway. She parred the hole to maintain a two-stroke lead.

“I don’t know the camera guy up there, but he was like, `There was a little squirrel up there who was nice to you and bumped it out on the fairway,'” Lindblad said.

Lauren Coughlin (70), Esther Henseleit (64), Miyu Yamashita (66) tied for third at 19 under. Nasa Hataoka had a 63 to get to 18 under.

Hannah Green, the winner each of the last two seasons at Wilshire Country Club, closed with a 67 to tie for ninth at 16 under. Second-ranked Jeeno Thitikul also was 16 under after a 69.

Top-ranked Nelly Korda had a 72 to tie for 16th at 14 under in her final start before her title defense in the Chevron Championship. The major event starts Thursday outside Houston at The Woodlands.

The tournament — the final event of the tour’s West Coast swing — was played at El Caballero because of renovations at Wilshire. It will return to Wilshire next season.

Lindblad also shot 68 in the first and second rounds and had a 63 on Friday.

“I feel like I played pretty aggressive all week,” Lindblad said. “I think it would just hurt me if we were trying to get too defensive. Felt like we stuck to the same game plan as we had the first three days, and turns out it worked out really well.”

AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf

Ingrid Lindblad hits from the fifteenth tee during the final round of the LPGA's JM Eagle LA Championship golf tournament at El Caballero Country Club Sunday, April 20, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jessie Alcheh)

Ingrid Lindblad lines up her putt on the fifteenth green during the final round of the LPGA's JM Eagle LA Championship golf tournament at El Caballero Country Club Sunday, April 20, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jessie Alcheh)

Ingrid Lindblad putts on the fourteenth green during the final round of the LPGA's JM Eagle LA Championship golf tournament at El Caballero Country Club Sunday, April 20, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jessie Alcheh)

Ingrid Lindblad looks on after hitting from the fifteenth tee during the final round of the LPGA's JM Eagle LA Championship golf tournament at El Caballero Country Club Sunday, April 20, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jessie Alcheh)

Ingrid Lindblad reacts while being sprayed with champagne after winning the LPGA JM Eagle LA Championship golf tournament at El Caballero Country Club, Sunday, April 20, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jessie Alcheh)

Ingrid Lindblad reacts while being sprayed with champagne after winning the LPGA JM Eagle LA Championship golf tournament at El Caballero Country Club, Sunday, April 20, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jessie Alcheh)

Yuri Yoshida hits from the sixth tee during the final round of the LPGA's JM Eagle LA Championship golf tournament at El Caballero Country Club Sunday, April 20, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jessie Alcheh)

Savannah Katarina Grewal hits from the fifth tee during the final round of the LPGA's JM Eagle LA Championship golf tournament at El Caballero Country Club Sunday, April 20, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jessie Alcheh)

Akie Iwai hits from the seventh fairway during the final round of the LPGA's JM Eagle LA Championship golf tournament at El Caballero Country Club Sunday, April 20, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jessie Alcheh)

Akie Iwai hits on the sixth hole during the final round of the LPGA's JM Eagle LA Championship golf tournament at El Caballero Country Club Sunday, April 20, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jessie Alcheh)

Lauren Coughlin hits from the seventh tee during the final round of the LPGA's JM Eagle LA Championship golf tournament at El Caballero Country Club Sunday, April 20, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jessie Alcheh)

Ingrid Lindblad putts on the sixth green during the final round of the LPGA's JM Eagle LA Championship golf tournament at El Caballero Country Club Sunday, April 20, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jessie Alcheh)

Akie Iwai hits from the seventh tee during the final round of the LPGA's JM Eagle LA Championship golf tournament at El Caballero Country Club Sunday, April 20, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jessie Alcheh)

Ingrid Lindblad hits from the bunker on the sixth hole during the final round of the LPGA's JM Eagle LA Championship golf tournament at El Caballero Country Club Sunday, April 20, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jessie Alcheh)

Ingrid Lindblad poses with the trophy after winning the LPGA JM Eagle LA Championship golf tournament at El Caballero Country Club, Sunday, April 20, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jessie Alcheh)

Ingrid Lindblad hits from the sixth tee during the final round of the LPGA's JM Eagle LA Championship golf tournament at El Caballero Country Club Sunday, April 20, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jessie Alcheh)

Ingrid Lindblad poses with the trophy after winning the LPGA JM Eagle LA Championship golf tournament at El Caballero Country Club, Sunday, April 20, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jessie Alcheh)

ST. LOUIS (AP) — World champions Ilia Malinin and the ice dance duo of Madison Chock and Evan Bates will anchor one of the strongest U.S. Figure Skating teams in history when they head to Italy for the Milan Cortina Olympics in less than a month.

Malinin, fresh off his fourth straight national title, will be the prohibitive favorite to follow in the footsteps of Nathan Chen by delivering another men's gold medal for the American squad when he steps on the ice at the Milano Ice Skating Arena.

Chock and Bates, who won their record-setting seventh U.S. title Saturday night, also will be among the Olympic favorites, as will world champion Alysa Liu and women's teammate Amber Glenn, fresh off her third consecutive national title.

U.S. Figure Skating announced its full squad of 16 athletes for the Winter Games during a made-for-TV celebration Sunday.

"I'm just so excited for the Olympic spirit, the Olympic environment," Malinin said. “Hopefully go for that Olympic gold.”

Malinin will be joined on the men's side by Andrew Torgashev, the all-or-nothing 24-year-old from Coral Springs, Florida, and Maxim Naumov, the 24-year-old from Simsbury, Connecticut, who fulfilled the hopes of his late parents by making the Olympic team.

Vadim Naumov and Evgenia Shishkova were returning from a talent camp in Kansas when their American Airlines flight collided with a military helicopter and crashed into the icy Potomac River in January 2025. One of the last conversations they had with their son was about what it would take for him to follow in their footsteps by becoming an Olympian.

“We absolutely did it,” Naumov said. “Every day, year after year, we talked about the Olympics. It means so much in our family. It's what I've been thinking about since I was 5 years old, before I even know what to think. I can't put this into words.”

Chock and Bates helped the Americans win team gold at the Beijing Games four years ago, but they finished fourth — one spot out of the medals — in the ice dance competition. They have hardly finished anywhere but first in the years since, winning three consecutive world championships and the gold medal at three straight Grand Prix Finals.

U.S. silver medalists Emilea Zingas and Vadym Kolesnik also made the dance team, as did the Canadian-born Christina Carreira, who became eligible for the Olympics in November when her American citizenship came through, and Anthony Ponomarenko.

Liu was picked for her second Olympic team after briefly retiring following the Beijing Games. She had been burned out by years of practice and competing, but stepping away seemed to rejuvenate the 20-year-old from Clovis, California, and she returned to win the first world title by an American since Kimmie Meissner stood atop the podium two decades ago.

Now, the avant-garde Liu will be trying to help the U.S. win its first women's medal since Sasha Cohen in Turin in 2006, and perhaps the first gold medal since Sarah Hughes triumphed four years earlier at the Salt Lake City Games.

Her biggest competition, besides a powerful Japanese contingent, could come from her own teammates: Glenn, a first-time Olympian, has been nearly unbeatable the past two years, while 18-year-old Isabeau Levito is a former world silver medalist.

"This was my goal and my dream and it just feels so special that it came true,” said Levito, whose mother is originally from Milan.

The two pairs spots went to Ellie Kam and Danny O'Shea, the U.S. silver medalists, and the team of Emily Chan and Spencer Howe.

The top American pairs team, two-time reigning U.S. champions Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov, were hoping that the Finnish-born Efimova would get her citizenship approved in time to compete in Italy. But despite efforts by the Skating Club of Boston, where they train, and the help of their U.S. senators, she did not receive her passport by the selection deadline.

“The importance and magnitude of selecting an Olympic team is one of the most important milestones in an athlete's life,” U.S. Figure Skating CEO Matt Farrell said, "and it has such an impact, and while there are sometimes rules, there is also a human element to this that we really have to take into account as we make decisions and what's best going forward from a selection process.

“Sometimes these aren't easy," Farrell said, “and this is not the fun part.”

The fun is just beginning, though, for the 16 athletes picked for the powerful American team.

AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

Amber Glenn competes during the women's free skating competition at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Alysa Liu skates during the "Making Team USA" performance at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Maxim Naumov skates during the "Making Team USA" performance at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Madison Chock and Evan Bates skate during the "Making the Team" performance at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Gold medalist Ilia Malinin arrives for the metal ceremony after the men's free skate competition at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)