INDIAN WELLS, Calif. – Duke women’s golf graduate Anne Chen claimed her first professional victory Sunday to close the Epson Tour Championship, which was being contested at the Indian Wells Golf Resort in Indian Wells. With the victory, Chen earned her 2026 LPGA Tour card.
Chen, a 2024 Blue Devil graduate, won on the fifth playoff hole against Sophia Schubert, after finishing the 72-hole event with a 22-under-par, 266. She registered scores of 68, 64, 69 and 65 over the four days to earn a paycheck of $37,500.
A product of Sugar Land, Texas, Chen entered the final day in third place and two shots off the lead. She went on to fire a bogey-free 7-under, 65, Sunday with seven birdies.
The pair then needed five extra holes to decide a winner in one of the most dramatic playoffs of the entire Epson Tour season. After matching pars on the first and second holes, Chen recovered from a poor bunker shot on the third hole by burying a lengthy par putt from off the green to keep the playoff going.
Then, on the fourth extra hole, Chen found the green on the par-5 13th hole in two and 2-putted for birdie, while Schubert got up-and-down for birdie to send the duo to a fifth playoff hole. And when Schubert missed the green with her approach shot and failed to get up and down, a 2-putt handed Chen her first career Epson Tour victory and locked her into the 11th position in the season-long Race for the Card, earning the 24-year-old LPGA Tour membership for the 2026 season.
“I had a great day,” said Chen. “It was a lot of fun. I really wasn’t trying to think about winning this tournament. I was just trying to have a great time. I played with Annabelle Pancake-Webb, and she was so much fun, such a joy to play with. She definitely made me feel less stressed on the golf course and I made a putt on 17 that I wasn’t expecting to make. I just parred out on 18, and I didn’t realize that I was tied for the lead, and then we had a playoff. Sophia (Schubert) is such a great competitor. It was so fun to play against her, and I’m super excited to win today.”
The 2025 Epson Tour season was highlighted by four different Duke golfers winning on the tour – Gina Kim (3), Laetitia Beck, Erica Shepherd and Chen. Kim, Beck and Chen all earned the LPGA Tour card for the 2026 season as they finished in the top 15 of the Race for the Card standings. The 2025 Epson Tour season concluded with back-to-back Duke winners as Shepherd won the Murphy USA El Dorado Shootout in September.
Chen’s win marks the 27th all-time by Duke golfers on the Epson Tour and the sixth this season.
On Sunday, Kim and Beck also officially received their 2026 LPGA Tour cards for finishing in the top 15 of the Race for the Card as well.
To stay up to date with Blue Devils women’s golf, follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook by searching “DukeWGOLF”.
#GoDuke
