Thailand’s Ariya Jutanugarn closed with a 12-foot birdie putt to win the Canadian Women’s Open by four shots and post her fifth victory of 2016.
Advertisement
The 20-year-old Thai player won nine days after withdrawing from the Rio Olympics because of a left knee injury, a problem that nearly forced her to skip this event.
South Korea’s Sei Young Kim carded a round of 68 to pull into a tie for third at 12 under with Northern Ireland’s Stephanie Meadow, who shot 69.
With a superb fourth-place showing, Hamilton’s Alena Sharp not only captured low Canadian honours but enjoyed her best result in a decade-plus on the LPGA Tour.
Three successive birdies from the 15th maintained Meadow’s hopes of a high finish as recent British Open victor Jutanugarn gave the other contenders hope by bogeying two of her final three holes.
And when Jutanugarn tees it up this week at the Manulife LPGA Classic, she’ll be looking to match the three-tournament winning streak she had earlier this season. The pain was so severe that when the Thai golfer arrived in Calgary earlier this week, she came close to withdrawing from the CP Canadian Women’s Open.
Sharp missed the cut when the Canadian Open was last held at Priddis seven years ago, so she felt she took “a little bit back from the course that took from me in 2009”.
I keep the eye on me, Jutanugarn said. Now I get to go and play basically in my own backyard.
“I feel really happy with myself right now”, said Ariya, who squandered several excellent chances to win tournaments earlier in the year before managing to get across the finish line.
With 27 circles on her scorecard, Jutanugarn made birdie on 37.5 percent of her assignments at Priddis Greens.
Hendry finished in a three-way tie for second on 10 under par, five shots behind the victor, Ryo Ishikawa.
She considered skipping Canada but recovered quickly enough to play in Calgary, where she competed with medical strips of tape on her left knee.
“I don’t think it was 100 percent”, said the Smith Falls sensation, “but it was really close to being really good, which is always fun”.
Advertisement
“This is our national championship and the crowds always seem to be wonderful here wherever it is in the country, which is really cool”, Henderson said. “The only thing I want to be is I really want to be happy on the course”. I was not hitting it well the first nine holes, but I hung in there.
