But after she’d bogeyed the last three holes to hand the year’s first major to Lydia Ko at the ANA Inspiration, there were more than a few jitters when she doubled the 13 and fell within one of Mirim Lee.
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The victor finished at 16-under 272 on the Marquess Course, the hilly, forest layout that is a big change from the usual seaside layouts in the tournament rotation.
Jutanugarn began the day with a two-stroke advantage over Lee who equalled the tournament scoring record with a 10 birdie no bogey round of 62 on Thursday.
Jutanugarn held off stiff competition from South Korea’s Mirim Lee to win by three strokes at the Woburn Golf Club and claim her fourth LPGA Tour title of the year.
‘I know how to come back.
She eventually managed to save par but a birdie from the Thai player saw her retake the driving seat heading into the final hole. Ariya Jutanugarn is a thunderous hitter and she powered her way to the top of the leaderboard with a third-round 66 in the Women’s British Open yesterday. With a win she would become the oldest major champion in LPGA history at 46 years, 11 months and 6 days old.
Stacy Lewis continued her recent resurgence when she finished alone in 4th position, two shots behind the pair tied for second while three-time victor Karrie Webb reversed season to date when she finished in a share of 5th place, with Ha Na Jang and Catriona Matthew.
“I feel a lot more comfortable”, Jutanugarn said.
“I had a couple of slack shots on the two par threes on the front nine and it was a bit of a struggle from there”, Matthew said.
Jutanugarn was embraced by her mother Narumon after completing victory, in emotional scenes on the final green.
Now she’s in a battle with Ko for Player of the Year.
“I remember when I was like five or something they went to play golf and left the caddie to take care of us”. Now she wants to break another barrier and become the first to lift a women’s major.
“After ANA, I’m still really nervous”, said Jutanugarn. “I have to focus on what is under my control”.
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South Africa’s Simon steamed to a tie for 10th with a second round 68, but the four-time Sunshine Tour victor slipped back to even-par 216 and joint 53rd after posting a five over 77 in the third round. She said thank you, that made my day. She won at St. Andrews in 2013. Austin Cook (Jonesboro, Arkansas Razorbacks) tied for 36th at 9 under, good enough for $2,660, while Sebastian Cappelen (Razorbacks) was two strokes behind that in a tie for 49th and won $1,725.
