Last year, Nelly Korda and her team held up five fingers during an intimate winner’s dinner, celebrating her historic fifth consecutive LPGA win after conquering the Chevron Championship. A perfect ending to a perfect day. Fast forward to Sunday, and this year’s celebration nearly turned tragic when champion Mao Saigo took her victory plunge despite a critical limitation – she couldn’t swim.
“I’m not really a good swimmer,” Saigo revealed through an interpreter after her dramatic playoff victory. “When I went inside, it was deep, and at first I thought I was going to drown.” What should have been a moment of pure jubilation turned into a rescue operation when the 23-year-old Japanese star found herself struggling in approximately five feet of murky water. Her caddie, Jeffrey Snow, had to leap in to save her.
Following her near-disaster, Saigo eventually enjoyed the exclusive winner’s dinner tradition, dining on an exquisite menu featuring a Blue Crab and Mango Salad and an A5 Miyazaki Wagyu Beef Medallion. As golf journalist Beth Ann Nichols revealed on X, Saigo’s meal was already set, though she’ll get to select next year’s Thomas Keller champions dinner menu.
Here’s what Mao and team had for dinner after her big win!
Menu was set. She gets to pick next year for the Thomas Keller champions dinner. https://t.co/RjFbyCX6T6 pic.twitter.com/vsPdVLvNTT
— Beth Ann Nichols (@GolfweekNichols) April 29, 2025
This is a developing story..
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