RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. -- It was the major championship that seemed to never end, with a pair of determined players chasing the same trophy for different reasons.
LPGA Hall of Fame member Inbee Park of South Korea was looking to pad her stellar record with a 20th LPGA title and eighth major championship while Sweden's Pernilla Lindberg was looking for her first LPGA win. Ever.
It took eight extra holes to crown a champion of this year's ANA Inspiration, requiring the players to return for an extra day for the first time in tournament history.
But finally, on the 10th green and fourth playoff hole on Monday morning, Lindberg drained a 30-footer for birdie to end the marathon for her first LPGA title.
The Swede looked entirely comfortable as her ball tracked toward the hole to become the winning putt, and it placed the pressure squarely on Park to match birdies.
When Park's 20-foot birdie attempt missed on the left side, Lindberg -- the 95th-ranked player -- fell into the arms of her parents and the celebration began.
"I just know I'm a grinder," Lindberg, 31, in her eighth LPGA season, said following the win. "I felt like this was mine, that I can do this."
To be clear, either player could have won the championship. Both showed amazing patience on the speedy greens of Mission Hills Country Club, and both managed their games on a course surrounded by gnarly rough that could readily gobble up wild shots and big dreams.
Both also missed some tricky short putts by trying to play safe.
"I left some putts short," admitted a disappointed Park, ranked No. 9 and the winner of the Bank of Hope Founders Cup two weeks ago in Phoenix. "I'm a little bit disappointed, but I'm happy with the way I played this week."
Park tipped her cap to Lindberg, however, for never backing down.
"I'm really happy for her," said Park, who won the championship in 2013. "This one was not an easy major win. I mean, [an] eight-hole playoff, I've never done something like that before either."
Monday's return to Mission Hills was required after Park, Lindberg and American Jennifer Song played extra playoff holes Sunday night. The trio returned to the 18th hole for a sudden-death playoff to break a three-way tie at 15-under-par 273, matching shots for three extra trips to the par-five 18th hole before Song was eliminated with a par.
Park and Lindberg returned to the 18th for a fourth extra hole, again matching shots until play was suspended for darkness Sunday night as the sun sank behind the mountains.
With the playoff resuming Monday morning at 8 a.m. PT, large crowds lined the fairway and ringed the greens, awaiting a new champion. Lindberg walked to their first hole, No. 10, smiling and hugging fellow LPGA player Azahara Munoz, and later Sarah Jane Smith, who came to the course to cheer on the Swede.
The two matched pars on the 10th and moved to the par-three 17th hole. Park's tee shot found the front left bunker. She pitched out to 14 feet and saved par to put the pressure on Lindberg. Lindberg's tee shot landed in the rough above the same bunker; from there, she pitched to 5 feet and saved par with a tricky downhill roll.
Still tied up, the two moved to the 18th tee -- their fifth visit to the par-five hole. Park played safe with a layup shot, hit her approach to 10 feet and two-putted for par.
Lindberg went for the 18th green in two shots with a hybrid, but her shot landed on the back left of the green, leaving a 75-foot, downhill putt that broke at least twice. Lindberg stroked her first putt to 5 feet, but missed her birdie attempt on the right edge, sending the two back to No. 10 for the fourth extra hole on Monday.
"I just tried to play as fearless golf as possible," said Lindberg, wearing the champion's robe after the traditional leap into Poppie's Pond beside the 18th green. "It was a no-brainer to go for it."
With her victory, Lindberg became the fifth player and second international player to make the championship at Mission Hills her first LPGA win. Others were fellow Swede Helen Alfredsson (1993), Nanci Bowen (1995), Morgan Pressel (2007) and Stacy Lewis (2011).
Lindberg also became the third Swede to win the event, joining Alfredsson and Annika Sorenstam.
A collegiate player at Oklahoma State University before playing on the Symetra Tour, Lindberg either led or shared the lead from wire to wire in the championship (including ties). She became only the fourth player to win the event from start to finish, joining Pat Bradley (1986), Betsy King (1987) and Pat Hurst (1998).
Coming into the ANA Inspiration, her best finish at a major championship was a tie for fifth at the 2015 U.S. Women's Open.
But the dogged Swede made her share of par saves on Sunday to stay in the hunt. It was as if she refused to take her parents, who were visiting from Sweden, for more sightseeing adventures, opting instead to keep them walking the fairways, waiting for their daughter's dream to come true.
"The only reason I'm playing golf is because of them," said Lindberg, who took up the game because of her parents' involvement in the sport back home in Bollnas, Sweden. "I'm so happy they're here. I've probably given my dad I don't know how many heart attacks over the last few days, but I'm just so happy they're here and get to see this and we get to celebrate it together."
At least her winner's check of $420,000 will buy a few nice dinners in the Palm Springs area during their visit.
"I was just proving things to myself all week," Lindberg said. "I can't believe I can finally call myself an LPGA champion."
Believe it. And yes, the playoff is finally over.