A lot of fans really want to see me do good, play good. “It didn’t feel like anything changed”.
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Jutanugarn finished four shots clear of runner-up Sei Young Kim of South Korea.
Jutanugarn received a champagne shower from playing partners Kim and countrywoman In Gee Chun after sinking a birdie putt on No. 18. Meadow had a 69. “I’m just really looking forward to it”. “It wasn’t pretty, but I got it done, and that’s what golf’s about”.
Meanwhile, another local in world number three Brooke Henderson was only good for equal 14th, 12 strokes off the Thai victor.
“It means a lot to play good in front of everybody”, the six-foot-one, long hitter stated.
Her latest was a four-stroke runaway victory in the Canadian Pacific Women’s Open where she closed with a six-under 66 to finish at 23 under.
The victory was the fifth of the year for Jutanugarn, who has become the LPGA Tour’s most dominant player over the last five months, finishing out of the top 20 just once in that period.
The second-ranked Jutanugarn began the second round with birdies on Nos. Those are three, four shots straight away.
“No matter what’s going to happen, I can handle it”, she said. I think I need to be a little bit aggressive. I was not hitting it well the first nine holes, but I hung in there. Her putt for par at the 14th hole in round two was listed as one of the highlights of the entire tournament.
“I felt like I wanted to have fun and be happy”, Jutanugarn said. People wanted to see the world No. 3 and a victor of a major this year at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship. But after like Monday, it didn’t hurt that much.
Meadow, ranked 419 in the world, has endured a hard year but has produced back-to-back rounds in Calgary to remain in the hunt for her first professional win. The 19-year-old New Zealander is No. 1 in the world and has four victories this season.
But the Thai golfer has put the past behind her and has now won five trophies in her last 10 tee-offs on the LPGA Tour. Past year back at Vancouver as a pro, she beat Stacy Lewis in a playoff. Jutanugarn leapfrogged Brooke Henderson for the No. 2 slot at the end of July, along the way also leaving Olympic golf medal victor Inbee Park, Lexi Thompson and Kim in her dust.
At 17-under 199, she had a two-stroke advantage over South Korea’s In Gee Chun.
“After I won my first tournament, I feel like I reached my goal, and after that I feel like I don’t care like what my ranking going to be”, she said. “Fortunately I did the job and it’s a good way to finish”.
Hamilton’s Sharp and Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., were the home-country favourites at the Canadian Pacific Canadian Open that concluded Sunday at Priddis Greens Golf and Country Club.
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Started off kind of ugly, Sharp said. “I know in the past we’ve done well as a group, the Canadians, so it’s nice to see halfway through we’ve got some people up there. Hopefully we can continue it on the weekend”. Daniela Darquea, an amateur and senior at the University of Miami, shot a 2-under 70 to beat out another amateur Princess Mary Superal of the Philippines. The potential battle between the world’s top two players would make for outstanding TV.
