Ariya lands historic British Open title
Thai ace reaches new heights in short span
WOBURN: Ariya Jutanugarn made history on Sunday when she became the first Thai golfer — man or woman — to win a major title with a final-round 72 and a 16-under-par 272 total at the Women’s British Open.
Two ahead at the start of the final round, Ariya’s lead was six shots by the time she birdied the long second hole and short sixth and she looked to be striding confidently to victory.
But the Bangkok golfer had to survive a great back nine challenge from playing partner Lee Mirim, from South Korea, before securing an emotional three-stroke victory — her fourth on the LPGA Tour.
The South Korean birdied three holes in a row from the 10th, and when Ariya had two nervy chips and double-bogeyed the 13th the advantage was down to one.
But the 20-year-old, who won her first three LPGA Tour titles in May, showed her champion’s class, rolling in a 20-foot birdie putt at the 17th and then a solid par at the last earned the €403,000 (18.5 million baht) first prize.
“This is really important for me and for golf in Thailand,” said Ariya, whose next stop is the Olympic Games in Rio which begin on Friday.
“The putt at the 17th was a huge relief. I had missed a few and I just wanted to make myself happy by holing it.”
Ariya was showered with water and champagne from her friends when she holed the final putt and the first hug was from her mother Narumon.
What did she say to her daughter? “I don’t know. She just cried,” said the new champion.
Ariya is scheduled to arrive in Bangkok this morning and will take a break before going to Brazil.
WOBURN: A lot can happen in 12 months of top-level sport — just ask Women’s British Open champion Ariya Jutanugarn.
Exactly one year ago, the youngster missed the cut at this major, the 10th successive tournament in which she had failed to qualify for the final two rounds.
Fast forward to Sunday at Woburn and Ariya’s family and friends were spraying her with sparkling water on the 18th green to celebrate the 20-year-old becoming the first player from Thailand to win a major championship.
With the win, she moved up to second from sixth in the world rankings.
She is the first Thai champion on the LPGA Tour after winning three titles in May — which coincidentally is her nickname also.
“Everything in the past was good for me because I learned from that, especially when I missed 10 cuts in a row,” she told reporters after a closing 72 gave her a 16-under total of 272 and a three-stroke victory.
“I know how to come back, I know how to be patient. Everybody is going to have bad times in their life and I think I have had that already.
“I’m pretty young, I’m lucky, I have a lot of chances to get better, a lot of time to work.”
Ariya suffered more misfortune in April when she led another major, the ANA Inspiration in California, by two shots and frittered away her opportunity to win with three bogeys in each of the last three holes.
“I’m pretty sure I learned a lot from that because when I feel nervous I now know what to do,” she said. “The last few holes here I tried to be patient and to commit to my shots.”
Since the ANA Inspiration, Ariya has decided to start her pre-shot routine by smiling in order to feel less uptight on the course.
“I really want to try to feel relaxed and I feel like whatever is going to make me happy is to smile,” she explained.
Ariya will now take a break from the game before preparing for next month’s Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
“I have played four weeks in a row so I want to rest but I still want to practise because I really want to play well in Rio,” she said.
On Sunday, Ariya had a big lead but she saw her advantage drop to one ahead of Lee Mi-Rim after a double bogey at the 13th.
But she rebounded with a birdie at the 17th by draining a putt from nearly 20 feet to take a two-stroke lead heading to the final hole.
“I think I got mad after that hole,” Ariya said about the 13th hole.
“My caddie helped me a lot. He tried to calm me down, slow me down.”
Winning a major title was one of her targets with the other two being becoming the top-ranked player in the world and taking an Olympic medal.