The 20-year-old Jutanugarn has two wins, a runner-up and 5th place finish in her last four starts.
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Victory in the year’s fifth and final major championship would give her a career set of six different major titles – the five existing ones plus the defunct Du Maurier Classic. They are also competing for the Rolex Player of the Year award, which is shaping up as a two-way race between them.
She hopes to win the third edition of the Rolex Annika Major Award, which rewards the player with the best combined record at all five majors and is named after 10-time major victor Annika Sorenstam.
China’s Feng Shanshan goes into the fifth and final major of the women’s season – the Evian Championship – still basking in the glory of claiming a medal at last month’s Olympic Games in Rio.
There is a major drop off in terms of the sports betting odds following Ko and Jutanugarn at the top of the board but there are some excellent value matchups to bet in terms of the head-to-head ranks.
Ariya is the most successful player on the LPGA Tour so far this year, having won five tournaments including the Women’s British Open.
Also in contention this year are women’s PGA champion Brooke Henderson, U.S. Open victor Brittany Lang, and British Open champion Ariya Jutanugarn. “I think it’s cool that we three young ones are up there in the rankings”.
Jutanugarn leads the LPGA Tour with five wins this year, and all of those have been won without using a driver. “It’s been like this when we were juniors because we played together, Lydia used to be No. 1, I’m second, and Brooke used to play really good”, Jutanugarn said. “We went canoeing one day, and just seeing family and friends that I haven’t really had a chance to see much this year was really important to me”. “So, no driver this week”. When she returned for a practice round this past Sunday, a host of memories came to light. There were loads of people waiting at the exit and it made me feel like a star.
A contemporary of both Minjee Lee and Ko, the Victorian has taken a little longer to find her way to the big stage but possesses all the tools necessary to compete at the top level.
She helps mentor the current crop of Bulldogs following a stellar career that saw her shatter nearly every individual record, including most rounds in the 60’s, lowest stroke average, most birdies and a Belmar Golf Club course record at the 2014 Schooner Fall Classic. “But when it came to my turn, I was like, ‘President, you’re so handsome.'” she said. “I say, have you seen my baby?” I think this is what the Olympics had done for golf.
Former Mississippi State All-American Ally McDonald will once again face the world’s best golfers as she has earned a spot in the field for this weekend’s LPGA Evian Championship in Evian-Les-Baines, France.
One notable absentee at Evian this year is Park, who is getting rehabilitation on her troublesome thumb.
A champion from South Korea this week would continue the streak of having at least one Korean major victor in a single season on the LPGA Tour since 2011.
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Americans Lexi Thompson, last year’s runner-up, two-time major victor Stacy Lewis are also in action.
