Mao Saigo won her first LPGA tournament Sunday, and it happened to be a major. The Japanese player won the Chevron Championship after a five-way playoff.
Winning the tournament meant Saigo had to indulge in the Chevron Championship’s decades-long tradition of jumping into the pond at the Nicklaus Course at The Club at Carlton Woods.
The only problem? Saigo can’t swim.
The attendees at the tournament were unaware of Saigo's inability to swim. Her caddie Jeffrey Snow did ask Saigo before the jump if she could swim, to which she replied “no.” However, they didn’t think the pond would be very deep so didn’t worry about it. They were surprised when Saigo couldn’t touch the bottom of the pond, which caused her to panic a bit.
“I’m not really a good swimmer,” Saigo said through a translator, via Golfweek. “When I went inside, it was deep and at first, I thought I was going to drown.”
The Leap of a Champion 🏆 pic.twitter.com/K4gXlzerd6
— LPGA (@LPGA) April 27, 2025
Saigo first jumped in with her manager, Rika Arai, and television reporter Mitsuki Katahira. Then, Snow and two trainers Yonguk Shin and Yonghee Lee jumped in after. The three women ended up using the men to try to stay above the water, which in turn pushed the men underwater.
“Every time I broke the surface, I got pulled under again,” Snow said, via Golfweek. “They were trying to grab someone.”
At the end of the dock where everyone jumped off of is about five feet deep, and the pond goes as deep at 10 feet.
Don't be surprised if the 2026 Chevron Championship winner is asked if they can swim before jumping in the pond.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Mao Saigo Jumped in Pond After Winning Chevron Championship Despite Not Being Able to Swim.
