Ariya Jutanugarn birdied five of her last seven holes to take a three-shot lead into the weekend at the Trust Golf Women’s Scottish Open. Her second-round 66 puts the 2018 Scottish Open winner at 9 under for the tournament. She has good vibes at the new Dumbarnie Links in Fife.
“I want to say my whole life, like my dream is I want to win on a links course because I won (the 2016 AIG Women’s British Open) at Woburn,” said Jutanugarn, “but it’s not links. I felt like one time in my life, I want to win on a links and I did it in 2018. Just bring back all the great memory I have here and you know, still lots of golf to go, so we never know what going to happen.”
A trio of players are at 6 under including England’s Charley Hull, Emily Pedersen and young Thai star Atthaya Thitikul. Pedersen called her putting an “absolute disgrace” the last two days.
“I have nine bogeys and six of them are because of three-putts,” she said.
Hull said she’s staying relaxed in the windy conditions by thinking about the spa/shopping weekend she plans to have in London with Georgia Hall after next week’s British Open. Hull said she’s already planning what she’ll buy.
“I have in my mindset now, golf is golf at the end of the day, it’s sport,” said Hull, “don’t get too down on yourself because sometimes this year, I got too down on myself, like I’m too obsessed with golf, breathe golf, eat golf, sleep golf, everything’s golf.”
Hull, who describes herself as having an addictive personality, said given that her current obsession is shopping, she’ll need to play well to fund it.
Thitikul plays full time on the Ladies European Tour and finished runner-up to Jutanugarn at the Honda LPGA Thailand event, while rookie hotshot Patty Tavantankit took a share of third. Trust Golf, a Thai company, is in its first year sponsoring the event.
Thitikul, currently ranked 56th in the world, rattled off four consecutive birdies from Nos. 12-15. She’s on a string of six straight top-5 finishes, including a solo fifth at the Amundi Evian Championship.
Five birdies in the final seven holes of @Womens_Scottish's second round and @jutanugarn is the solo clubhouse leader at 9-under! 🔥 pic.twitter.com/YHKZwq3mdx
— LPGA (@LPGA) August 13, 2021
Jutanugarn, the first Thai player to win on the LPGA and rise to No. 1, was asked after the round about her tendency to sit down during play.
“I like to sit on all the time because I’m lazy,” she said, “tired all the time. I feel like to sit down and enjoy the view and enjoy other players playing, it’s so much fun. You have nothing to do, just like rooting for them. When you sit down and have some time, you see amazing shots, like Patty yesterday, she makes so much like really good up-and-down and I feel like so impressed.”
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