Ariya Jutanugarn’s strength and skill helped her become the first player to win three straight LPGA Tour events in three years.
Ariya, 20, on Sunday closed with a five-under 67 for a five-stroke victory in the LPGA Volvik Championship. She was the first player since Inbee Park in 2013 to win three consecutive tournaments and the first ever to make her first three career victories consecutive.
“Ariya is very difficult to describe, there really hasn’t been a player like her in my generation,” said 32-year-old Christina Kim, who finished second after a 71. “The way she powers the ball, it’s remarkable. And she has such imagination around the golf course and incredible touch.”
Photo: AFP
Ariya finished at 15-under 273 at Travis Pointe after starting the day with a one-shot edge thanks to a closing eagle in the third-round.
She became the first Thai winner in tour history three weeks ago in Alabama and followed that up last week with a victory in Virginia.
Ariya is not playing the next event in New Jersey, where she would have had a shot to become the first since Lorena Ochoa in 2008 to win four scheduled tournaments in a row.
“I just need rest right now,” she said.
She will have an opportunity to resume her run at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship in two weeks in Sammamish, Washington.
“She’s going to have a lot of majors under her belt,” Kim said. “She’s peaking at the right time.”
A year ago, Ariya was mired in a slump in which she missed 10 straight cuts.
“Last year, I had chance to win a few tournaments, but I didn’t know how to play with pressure,” she said. “This year, I know how to play under pressure.”
Jessica Korda (72) and Canada’s Brooke Henderson (68) tied for third on nine-under. Henderson, 18, has nine top-10 finishes this season. Third-ranked Lexi Thompson shot a 67 to tie for seventh at seven-under.
Top-ranked Lydia Ko carded a 70 to tie for 16th at four-under.
Taiwan’s Min Lee carded a final-round one-over 73 to tie for 20th with six others, while Cheng Ssu-chia finished with an even-par 72 to tie for 48th.
Before the breakthrough winning streak, Ariya was best known for a pair of final-round meltdowns. Last month in the ANA Inspiration, she had a two-stroke lead with three holes left and closed with three bogeys to finish fourth — two strokes behind winner Ko.
“I didn’t know how to control when I got very nervous,” Jutanugarn said. “After that, I got a lot more confident.”
In the 2013 Honda LPGA Thailand at age 17, Ariya blew a two-stroke lead with a closing triple bogey in a one-stroke loss to Park.
Ariya opened the inaugural tournament at Travis Pointe with a 65, leaving her a shot behind Kim. Ariya surged into the lead by two strokes with a 68 on Friday and finished off a 73 on Saturday with a 15-foot eagle putt for a one-stroke lead over Kim and Korda.
The powerful player did not need a driver this week, and still often outhit the competition off the tee with her two-iron and three-wood, which she has used to send balls 270 yards.
“She can hit it 320, 330, when she hits driver,” Kim said.
And even if she was in the rough or sand at the Volvik Championship, Ariya’s deft touch put her in position to make par-saving putts or birdies.
Lightning in the area led to a 50-minute rain delay toward the end of Ariya’s front nine when she was one-under for the day after a birdie at No. 6.
Facing a stiff, flag-flapping wind, she sent a tee shot into the right rough at No. 9. Her approach left her short of the green, but she got up and down for a par.
“She does things that I can’t fathom,” Kim said. “It’s beautiful to watch.”
As Ariya walked off ninth green, she stopped to shake the hand of US Army Specialist Zachary Loughrige, who was tending the US flag that was used in hole.
She pulled away from the field with birdies on 13, 14 and 16, earning a five-shot cushion at 14-under.
“I thought she was bored, because she was sitting down,” Korda said. “She sat down on like the 16 tee and 18 tee, sitting, chilling in the shade.”
Long before that moment, everyone else was vying for position on the leaderboard behind Ariya.
Korda said she was “speechless” after playing in the final group with Ariya.
“As long as she can keep that ball in play off the tee, watch out,” she said.
“Keep watching out,” she added.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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