Gemma Dryburgh clinches first LPGA title with victory in Toto Classic

Dryburgh cards a 7-under 65 in the final round on Sunday to win the Toto Classic by four shots ahead of Japan’s Kana Nagai.

Gemma Dryburgh with her trophy at the Seta Golf Course North Course in Shiga, Japan, on Sunday. | Photo Credit: Getty Images

Gemma Dryburgh of Scotland won her first LPGA Tour title with a final-round 7-under 65 on Sunday to take the Toto Classic by four shots ahead of Japan’s Kana Nagai. Nagai also closed with a 65.

Linn Grant was a third, five shots off the pace after a 67.

Dryburgh, who also carded a 65 in the third round, finished 20-under 268 at the Seta Golf Club in western Japan.

ALSO READ - European golfers get pay guarantee in face of LIV threat

Japanese Momoko Ueda, who led after the second and third rounds, finished eight shots behind after a 74. Ueda had won the event twice.

‘Overwhelming’

Dryburgh had a premonition about winning this week, and it happened. “I was in [South] Korea last week with friends and I said to them: ‘I’ll mention you in my speech’,” she said. “Just as a joke. It’s overwhelming to be honest. This is a dream of mine for a long time.”

Dryburgh, who played golf at Tulane University in New Orleans — she’s still a serious Manchester United football fan — said she was relaxed despite the pressure. “I was nervous. I’m not going to lie,” she said. “But I was incredibly calm, to be honest, and kind of focused on my breathing.”

Dryburgh is the first Scot to win on the LPGA tour since Catriona Matthew in 2011 at the Lorena Ochoa Invitational.