MIAMI (AFP) – Ariya Jutanugarn survived a back-nine meltdown to win the 73rd US Women’s Open on Sunday and claim her second career major title in a playoff.
Ariya frittered away a seven-shot lead with nine holes remaining before parring the fourth playoff hole to edge South Korea’s Kim Hyo-joo and become the first player from Thailand to lift the trophy.
“I feel great,” Ariya said. “I am really excited. I’m really honoured to join the list of winners before me.”
The 22-year-old from Bangkok parred all four playoff holes at the Shoal Creek, Alabama course for her second win of the 2018 LPGA Tour season to go with the Kingsmill Championship.
She finished with a one-over par 73 and a 72-hole total of 11-under 277.
South Korea’s Kim closed with a five-under 67 to force the playoff and had two long putts to win in the extra session but couldn’t get them to fall.
“I started off quite a few strokes behind the leader, so I didn’t really think that I was going to come through,” Kim said.
Both parred the third playoff hole and they returned to the par-four 18th, where Ariya’s superb bunker shot left her with a tap in for the win.
”I have a lot of confidence in my bunker shots right now,” said Ariya, who also won the 2016 British Open.
She had appeared to be headed to victory hours earlier, after a birdie at the ninth hole moved her to 16-under and a seven-stroke lead.
Ariya’s collapse began with a triple bogey seven on number 10 and continued with a bogey at 12.
She carried the meltdown through with back-to-back bogeys on 17 and 18.
”On 10 I just didn’t feel comfortable to hit the three wood and honestly I shouldn’t have hit the three wood, but I did. After that I kinda played a little bit scared,” she said.
She righted the ship in the playoff which went to a sudden death format after the two-hole aggregate start failed to produce a winner.
Not only does Ariya become the first Thai to win a US Women’s Open title but she is the first champion from a country other than South Korea or the US since Sweden’s Annika Sorenstam in 2006.
