It wasn’t easy—and took four playoff holes—but Ariya Jutanugarn bettered Hyo Joo Kim to win the U.S. Women’s Open.
Jutanugarn, from Thailand, seemed to have the tournament in her grasp on the back nine at Shoal Creek in Alabama, but stumbled coming in, making bogeys on her final two holes to fall into a tie with Kim. Jutanugarn made five birdies against a single bogey on the front nine to appear to be in a commanding position in the tournament.
Jutanugarn, who works with Canadian short game coach Gareth Raflewski of London, Ont., said she tried to keep her composure even as the back nine slipped away.
“I forgot the bad things,” she said. “Honestly, I tried to be smile because I feel if I keep doing that it is going to make me happy … I try hard to do that.”
The big-hitting Thai golfer seemed unlikely to prevail in a playoff given the back nine meltdown. Jutanugarn went into the playoff without much in the way of confidence.
“After you have like seven-shot lead and end up with you have to go to playoff, I have no expectations because like I kind of got mad a little bit with my back nine,” she said. “So, if I have a playoff I’m going to make sure I do my best every shot because I feel like I didn’t commit on the back nine. I feel I have last chance to make myself proud or do the shot in front of me.”
The playoff—a two-hole aggregate of the scores on 14 and 18—required four holes to crown Jutanugarn as the winner. In the end, it was Jutanugarn’s short game prowess that led to her win, as she hit a brilliant greenside bunker shot on the fourth playoff hole, making a par that Kim could not match.
“I still can see the shot,” she said after the round.
Kim, who shot a final round 67 to close the gap with Jutanugarn, who carded a final round 73, said despite losing in the playoff, she is a better player for the experience.
“I felt that my putting was somehow better this week, so maybe my confidence game went up a little this week,” she said. “Although the playoff did not go in as I wanted, I’m just happy and take pride that I made it to the playoff.”
It is the second major championship win for Jutanugarn. Golf Town athlete Brooke Henderson had to withdraw after the first round to fly home to Ontario because of an illness in her family, while fellow Canadians Alena Sharp and 17-year-old amateur Celeste Dao failed to make the cut.
What’s in the bag:
Ball: Titleist Pro V1x
3-wood: TaylorMade AeroBurner, 15 degrees
Irons (2-3): TaylorMade Tour Preferred UDI; (4): TaylorMade RSi TP UDI; (5-PW): Titleist 716 AP2
Wedges: Titleist Vokey SM7 (50, 56, 60 degrees)
Putter: Odyssey Works Cruiser V-Line