Monday Leaderboard: Wild finish includes playoffs, slow play, rules questions, a whiff and a near-drowning

Welcome to the Monday Leaderboard, where we run down the weekend’s top stories in the wonderful world of golf. Grab an Arnold Palmer, pull up a chair and behold one of the wildest finishes to a major in years…

LPGA: They’re going five-wide into a playoff!

At the first major of the LPGA season, the Chevron Championship saw the Masters’ wild playoff finish … and raised it. No, there wasn’t a Rory McIlroy-esque legacy-defining win, but the 72nd hole and the one-hole playoff featured stunning shots, maddening slow play, heartbreak misfires, rules controversies … what else do you need? It was seriously one of the strangest finishes to a tournament, much less a major, that’s unfurled in quite some time.

Start with Ariya Jutanugarn, who probably could have wrapped up the tournament on the 18th with a par. But her tee shot went wide, and she opted to fire at the grandstands as, basically, a handy (and controversial) backstop. But her third shot did not go as planned …

The whiff meant she got in with a bogey to fall into a tie with Hyo Joo Kim at seven-under. Soon afterward, Ruoning Yin got up-and-down with a birdie to finish at seven-under. In the final grouping of the day, Haeran Ryu took an extraordinarily long time to play an approach and determine a drop. And then she just went and buried the chip from the drop zone:

But her playing partners, Lindy Duncan and Mao Saigo, both managed to get up and down to finish at seven-under and elbow into the playoff themselves. Somehow, a playoff field of five lasted only one hole, as Saigo was the only one to birdie the 18th and claim the victory.

Oh, and just when you thought the day couldn’t get any stranger … Saigo nearly drowned on the Chevron’s traditional leap into the pond:

“I’m not really a good swimmer,” Saigo said through an interpreter. “When I went inside, it was deep and at first, I thought I was going to drown.”

After a few stressful moments — the pond is 10 feet deep in some places — Saigo was pulled from the water. What a tournament.

A pair of first-time winners at the Zurich Classic

Last week, Andrew Novak barely missed out on his first PGA Tour victory, losing to Justin Thomas at the RBC Heritage. He got his chance for redemption just seven days later at the Zurich Classic team-play event, and this time, alongside Ben Griffin, he held on for the victory. It marked the first win on Tour for either Novak or Griffin. The two won in their 100th and 90th PGA Tour starts, respectively, carding a combined 28-under in the alternating shot/best ball event. Twins Nicolai and Rasmus Højgaard finished one stroke off the lead.

Joaquin Niemann takes LIV Mexico, secures U.S. Open bid

Joaquin Niemann continues his reign of terror in LIV Golf, claiming the tour’s Mexico event over the weekend to further solidify his hold on the points lead. Niemann began the tournament’s final day three strokes behind Bryson DeChambeau and two behind Cam Smith, but held strong as those two major winners faltered to win by three strokes. The victory entitles him to an invitation to the U.S. Open, per the USGA’s new LIV-friendly rules. It will now be up to Niemann to back up all his lobbying for major spots; he has never finished in the top 10 in a major. Niemann isn’t necessarily the face of LIV Golf — DeChambeau and Jon Rahm hold that honor — but Niemann needs to prove that success on the LIV tour can translate to success on more prestigious larger-field, cut-line events. He’ll get his next chance at a major in two weeks at Quail Hollow.

The fabled Ames Albatross

Sixty-year-old Stephen Ames — who once had the unfortunate distinction of talking trash about Tiger Woods and then getting beaten 9-and-8 by Woods in a 2006 match play event — had a fine afternoon at the Mitsubishi Electric Classic over the weekend, carding an albatross on the 18th at TPC Sugarloaf. He finished the tournament in solo 8th place, and pocketed roughly an extra $15,000 for this shot:

Shot of the week: Country golf

Chandler Phillips risked dignity, a mud bath and a gator attack on Saturday for this brilliant escape from the muck at TPC Louisiana. Magnificent farmer’s tan here, too.

Phillips and playing partner Jacob Bridgeman would go on to finish T10 at the Zurich, and solo first for style.

Coming up next: PGA Tour: The CJ Cup Byron Nelson (TPC Craig Ranch, Texas); LPGA: Black Desert Championship (Ivins, Utah); PGA Tour Champions: Insperity Invitational (The Woodlands, Texas) LIV: LIV Golf Korea (Incheon, South Korea).