Tag: Atthaya Thitikul

Atthaya Thitikul opens with record-setting 63 at LPGA’s BMW in South Korea; No. 1 Jin Young Ko shoots 80

A 19-year-old rookie holds a one-shot lead over a 16-year-old amateur at BMW in South Korea.

Atthaya Thitikul says she’s not thinking about awards, but her opening 9-under 63 set a tournament record at the BMW Ladies Championship at Oak Valley Country Club in South Korea and certainly added fuel to the Rolex Player of the Year conversation.

It stood in stark contrast to World No. 1 Jin Young Ko’s opening 80. Ko took two months off to heal a bum wrist and struggled mightily in her first round back, making a 10 on the par-5 18th after a wayward tee shot. She also recorded six bogeys.

“Golf can be like this,” Ko told South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency. “Things don’t always go the way I want them to. I did the best I could. Whatever the final score is, it’s on me to accept that and to figure out where I can get better. I will try to stay positive to get ready for the remaining rounds.”

Ko, who won this tournament last year on a different course, said she didn’t want to make any excuses with her wrist, saying her goal is to wrap up the tournament playing pain-free. She’s tied for 76th in a field of 78. There is no cut.

Jin Young Ko of South Korea prepares to play her second shot out of the rough on the 18th fairway during the first round of the BMW Ladies Championship at Oak Valley Country Club on October 20, 2022 in Wonju, South Korea. (Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images)

In 2017, Sung Hyun Park became the first player since Nancy Lopez (1978) to win both the Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year Award and Player of the Year award in the same season.

Could Thitikul be the next?

She leads the Rookie of the Year race and trails Minjee Lee by 25 points. A victory is worth 30 points.

Thitikul looks to win her third title of the season this week at the BMW, which would make her the No. 1 player in the Rolex Rankings, overtaking Jin Young Ko. She could also ascend to the top if she finishes solo fourth or better and No. 3 Minjee Lee doesn’t win.

Thitikul’s bogey-free 63 included a hole-out for eagle on the par-4 13th from 102 yards.

“I had a great round today, really solid round today,” said Thitikul, “especially had eagles. First time I holed out in a competition round.”

Thitikul, 19, holds a one-stroke lead over 16-year-old amateur Minsol Kim, who shot 64, making seven birdies in a span of eight holes.

“When I was younger, I actually came as a gallery (member) to watch the BMW Ladies Championship, and I remember thinking that Sung Hyun Park was really cool,” said Kim. “So today to play side-by-side with her, think it was a real honor. Initially, I was really nervous (today) but after the first hole, I thought that it was quite fun, and so I wasn’t really feeling the pressure, and I was enjoying myself. I think that really helped me today.”

LPGA Player of the Year race tightens with only four events left in 2022, and a rookie might steal the show

The Rolex LPGA Player of the Year race could once again turn into a doozie.

With four events left in the season, the Rolex LPGA Player of the Year race could once again turn into a doozie.

As it stands, the Rolex Annika Major Award winner Minjee Lee holds a 19-point lead over Brooke Henderson. Unlike the PGA Tour, the LPGA’s POY is based on a points system, with no player votes. A victory is worth 30 points and a second place is worth 12. A 10th-place finish is worth one point.

Points were doubled at the majors, which explains why four of the top six players in the standings are 2022 majors winners.

Jennifer Kupcho has won three times this season, but her victory with Lizette Salas at the Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational wasn’t eligible for POY points. She’s sixth on the list and trails Lee by 54 points.

Last season, Jin Young Ko had to win the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship to overtake Nelly Korda in the points race, and she did just that, earning an LPGA Hall of Fame point in the process. Ko won three of her last four starts to make a dramatic late-season push.

This year, both Ko and Korda have battled health issues and are T-10 and 43rd, respectively, in the POY standings.

Here’s a closer look at the top four in the running as the race winds down:

Xiyu Lin leads Ascendant LPGA Benefiting Volunteers of America; Atthaya Thitikul, Lizette Salas a shot back

Xiyu Lin eagled the 17th hole late in the day to overtake Atthaya Thitikul and Lizette Salas.

Xiyu Lin eagled the 17th hole to vault into the lead Thursday at the Ascendant LPGA Benefiting Volunteers of America.

Lin had five birdies and a bogey and shot a first-round 65, finishing late in the day to overtake rookie Atthaya Thitikul and veteran Lizette Salas by a shot at Old American Golf Club in The Colony, Texas.

Thitikul already has two LPGA wins this season and has climbed to No. 3 in the Rolex Rankings.

Lexi Thompson is among those tied for fourth, two shots back. Nelly Korda, who could be in position to reclaim the top spot in the rankings, opened with a 4-over 75. She had six bogeys and just two birdies and sits tied for 91st.

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Rookie Atthaya Thitikul wins in a playoff for a second time on the LPGA this season, defeating Danielle Kang in Arkansas

It’s the second playoff win for Thitikul this year,

Atthaya Thitikul became the first rookie in five years to win twice in one season after she defeated Danielle Kang in a sudden-death playoff. The 19-year-old Thai player, a former phenom, carded a career-low 61 on Saturday at the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship and then poured in birdies at just the right time on Sunday.

Thitikul becomes the fourth Thai player to win multiple titles on the LPGA, joining Ariya Jutanugarn (12), Moriya Jutanugarn (2) and Jasmine Suwannapura (2). She’s the fourth player to win multiple LPGA titles in 2022, joining Jennifer Kupcho (3), Minjee Lee (2) and Brooke Henderson (2), who all won majors this season.

“I’m in the final group, then just prove myself that, yeah, you can do it,” she said of joining the Jutanugarns on a short list of Thai players who have won more than one title.

“Even you have a pressure on it, you have a pressure on yourself, and I think it’s mean a lot to me and to my team as well because they know that I can do it, like many times.”

Kang, 29, was making her third start since returning to the tour after testing and treatment for a tumor on her spine. While she hasn’t revealed much about that process, Kang was emotional in a post-round interview, saying she wondered, at times, if she’d ever get the chance to compete at again.

“I don’t think I’ve ever cried by losing,” she said, calling them happy tears.

Kang holed out for eagle on the 18th hole in regulation to take the clubhouse lead at 17 under. Thitikul matched her with a birdie on the penultimate hole. They proceeded to a sudden-death playoff, with Thitikul winning on the second hole with birdie. Both of Thitikul’s LPGA titles this season were won in a playoff.

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Asked if it was any easier the second time around, Thitikul, known by friends at “Jeeno,” said absolutely not.

“Not at all,” she said. “I mean, like I just feel like playing golf with Danielle is kind of tough as well because she is pretty great player, win a lot on LPGA Tour already.”

Thitikul, who closed with a 68, earned $345,000 for her victory, giving her $1,881,392 for the season. She extends her lead in the Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year race over South Korea’s Hye-Jin Choi.

Thitikul’s rookie success shouldn’t come as much of a surprise, given how early she found the winner’s circle. In 2017, she became the youngest to ever win a professional tournament when she triumphed on home soil at the Ladies European Thailand Championship at 14 years, 4 months, and 19 days.

Last season, she won the Race to Costa del Sol, Rookie of the Year and Player of the Year honors at age 18, joining Dame Laura Davies, Carlota Ciganda and Esther Henseleit as the only players to win Rookie of the Year and Player of the Year in the same season.

“When you get the job done, and then you feel like release and then it’s just like yeah, the whole world that I had carry on my back, it’s like done,” said Thitikul. “They’re gone. And just know that what you have work is right and then, yeah, the hard work pays off as well.”

Lilia Vu, searching for first LPGA victory, in striking distance at Walmart NW Arkansas Championship heading to final round

A year ago, Lilia Vu was playing on the other side of Arkansas.

A year ago, Lilia Vu was playing on the other side of Arkansas.

Then a member of the Epson Tour, she tied for second at the 2021 El Dorado Shootout, which included a final-round 4-under 68 to finish at 3 under for the week.

Vu is back in the Natural State this week, but she’s far from the place she was last year. Although the El Dorado Shootout is going on this weekend, Vu is in Rogers at Pinnacle Country Club, where she leads the 2022 Walmart NW Arkansas Championship with 18 holes to play looking for her first victory.

“It was never a matter of my game or skills that were lacking, I just wasn’t looking at golf in a healthy or positive way,” Vu said of the changes the past year. “Every shot was life or death. I feel like I figured it out last year, like I’m just going to go out there and have fun. I know how good I am.”

Vu, 24, considered giving up the game in 2019 after missing all but one cut on the LPGA and earning just over $3,000. Heading into Sunday’s final round, she’s playing arguably the best golf of her career and is again within striking distance.

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She fired consecutive rounds of 6-under 65 and sits at 12-under 130. Yet she and the field are chasing Attaya Thitikul, who had a round to remember on Saturday during the second round of the 54-hole event.

Thitikul recorded eight birdies, one eagle and no bogeys en route to a 10-under round of 61. She sits at 14 under and Yuka Saso by one and Lilia Vu by two. Saso also shot 6-under 65 and is at 13 under for the tournament.

The 10-under round for Thitikul ties the tournament record for lowest 18-hole score.

Vu is in the middle of stretch where she has improved her finish in four straight events. Two weeks ago in Portland, she finished tied for third at the AmazingCre Portland Classic. She was also tied for the lead with 18 holes left that week.

“I had a lot of fun today,” Vu said, “And I’m excited for tomorrow, too.”

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Meet the LPGA’s seven first-time winners in 2022, who hail from seven different countries

There’s some star power on this list.

Maja Stark became the seventh first-time winner on the LPGA this season with her commanding five-stroke triumph at the ISPS Handa World Invitational in Northern Ireland. The victory qualified Stark, a former standout at Oklahoma State, for immediate LPGA membership.

Stark has now won seven times worldwide since turning professional last summer.

Two of the seven first-time winners – Jennifer Kupcho and Ashleigh Buhai – won majors. Last week, Buhai became the 44th player to become a Rolex first-time winner at a major.

The record for most first-time winners in a season is 11, set in 1995. In 2018, there were 10: Jin Young Ko, Pernilla Lindberg, Moriya Jutanugarn, Annie Park, Nasa Hataoka, Thidapa Suwannapura, Georgia Hall, Marina Alex, Nelly Korda and Gaby Lopez.

Here’s a closer look at the seven first timers in 2022:

LA Open winner Nasa Hataoka tops list of 10 best players on the LPGA without a major title

Hataoka’s sixth LPGA win puts her in elite company.

Nasa Hataoka’s sixth career victory at the DIO Implant LA Open on Sunday puts her in elite company with Jessica Korda. Together they’re the winningest players on the LPGA without a major title.

Who are the best players without a major? Some on this list, like Hataoka and Korda, have won quite a bit already. Others, like rookie Atthaya Thitikul, make the list based on talent and potential.

Minjee Lee and Jennifer Kupcho are two players who played their way off of last year’s list. Lee won the 2021 Amundi Evian Championship, and Kupcho broke through with her first LPGA title at the Chevron Championship earlier this month.

Here’s a list of 10 players (with their Rolex Ranking) who are either primed to win a major or past due:

LPGA: Talented Thai teen Atthaya Thitikul turns win last week into major opportunity at Chevron Championship

The 19-year-old rising LPGA star from Thailand won last week’s tour event in Carlsbad.

For most of us, when our travel plans get changed at the last second, it’s a bummer. Not so for Atthaya Thitikul.

The 19-year-old rising LPGA star from Thailand won last week’s tour event in Carlsbad, and that victory qualified her to play in this week’s Chevron Championship in Rancho Mirage. Needless to say, she adjusted her plans.

Just three days after her first LPGA Tour win, she will be playing in her first major as an LPGA Tour member.

“It means the world to me to be out here and winning last week and I’m excited to play this week,” Thitikul said Wednesday after playing in the pro-am. “If I wasn’t here, I probably would’ve gone home or somewhere to stay focused on my game. This is better.”

When Thitikul tees it up Thursday, it will be her first time playing the Dinah Shore Tournament Course as a pro, but it won’t be the first time she played in this event. She played here in 2018 as an amateur, made the cut and finished in a tie for 30th. She was the top amateur that year.

She finished 5-under in 2018, tied with the likes of Michelle Wie, Cristie Kerr and In Gee Chun. Not bad for a 15-year-old.

Does that mean that this course suits her game?

Atthaya Thitikul reacts on the final hole on the last day of the Honda LPGA Thailand at the Siam Country Club in Pattaya on May 9, 2021. (Photo by Lillian Suwanrumpha/AFP via Getty Images)

“No, I think not very much,” she said matter-of-factly. “For me, and just like for all the players, if you can keep your ball in the fairway, it will be much easier.”

Thitikul said she doesn’t feel like the confidence and glow she gained by winning last week will necessarily translate to this week.

“You can’t expect anything with golf,” she said, showing the wisdom of a veteran. “That was last week not today. I don’t want to just have winning always on my back, like ‘Oh yeah just won that tournament, you should do good in this tournament too.’ It doesn’t mean that. It depends on your week, depends on the course.”

Having just turned 19 on Feb. 20, if she were to make it two in a row and win this week, she would be the third-youngest player ever to win this event.

Morgan Pressel in 2007 and Lydia Ko in 2016 both won as 18-year-olds. Lexi Thompson was 19 years, one month and 27 days old when she won here in 2014. Thitikul would be a couple weeks younger than that on Sunday.

Thitikul has another unique distinction relating to her success at a young age. She is the youngest golfer ever to win a professional golf tournament. At age 14 years, 4 months and 19 days, she won the Ladies European Thailand Championship as an amateur in 2017. It was that victory that enabled her to play here in Rancho Mirage in 2018.

A victory in the desert on Sunday would replace all of those accomplishments and become her new shining moment. She admitted that she has dreamt of jumping in Poppie’s Pond, and with the tournament moving to Houston after this year, she knows this will be the last opportunity for her to be able to do that.

There is one problem though.

“The other players have this dream, too,” she said with a laugh.

Shad Powers is a columnist for The Palm Springs Desert Sun, part of the USA Today Network. Reach him at shad.powers@desertsun.com.

Watch her play

Who: Atthaya Thitikul, 19-year-old from Thailand who won last week’s LPGA event.
Playing partner: Inbee Park, the 2013 champion here
Thursday tee time: 12:47 p.m. off the 10th tee
Friday tee time: 7:47 a.m. off the 1st tee

Thai rookie sensation Atthaya Thitikul claims first LPGA title in playoff at JTBC Classic

Youth prevailed as 19-year-old Atthaya Thitikul ousted Nanna Koerstaz Madsen in extra holes.

Nanna Koerstz Madsen picked the absolute worst time to record her first three-putt of the week at the JTBC Classic.

Needing to two-putt the 72nd hole to collect her second consecutive title, the Dane pushed her par putt and fell into a tie with 19-year-old rookie Atthaya Thitikul, who had finished play an hour earlier.

As Koerstz Madsen put the finishing touches on a 2-under 70, Thitikul stretched and worked on her short game a bit but never went to the range as she kept tabs on the scoreboard. The Thai phenom closed with an 8-under 64, the round of the week, Sunday at Aviara Golf Club to finish knotted with Koerstz Madsen at 16-under 272 for the tournament.

Only three players have ever won their first two events on the LPGA in consecutive starts. Koerstz Madsen looked to become the fourth, joining Trish Johnson (1993), Emilee Klein (1996) and Ariya Jutanugarn (2016).

Thitikul, No. 14 in the Rolex Rankings, has four wins on the Ladies European Tour, making history when she won the first at age 14. The LPGA rookie looked to win for the first time in just her fifth start in 2022.

Ultimately, youth prevailed, with Thitikul claiming her first LPGA title with bogey on the second playoff hole after Koerstz Madsen’s approach met a watery end.

“It means to the world to me,” said a champagne-soaked Thitikul,

On the first playoff hole, both players had 156 yards left into the difficult 18th. They told each other that it didn’t matter who went first. Koerstz Madsen eventually gave the nod to Thitikul to go ahead, and Thitikul proceeded to nearly dunk her approach for eagle.

Koerstz Madsen couldn’t match the effort, missing the green left. She did, however, nestle her third shot close, and after Thitikul failed to convert for birdie, the pair moved on to a second playoff hole after matching pars.

The second time around, Koerstz Madsen’s tee shot hit the cart path and she hit her hybrid from 216 yards with her right foot still on the concrete. Her approach shot leaked right into the water, opening the door for the rookie to make her mark.

Thitikul needed only to three-putt for bogey to collet her first LPGA victory.

Earlier this month, Koerstz Madsen, whose fiancé Nicki Hansen caddies for her on tour, won the Honda LPGA Thailand in a playoff with an eagle on the final hole.

Nanna Koerstz Madsen tees off the second hole during the final round of the 2022 JTBC Classic presented by Barbasol at Aviara Golf Club in Carlsbad, California. (Photo: Donald Miralle/Getty Images)

Last year at the AIG Women’s British Open, Koerstz Madsen came into the 72nd hole tied with Anna Nordqvist but suffered a heart-breaking double-bogey on the taxing 18th that included a shocking shank from a green-side bunker.

That now seems a distant memory.

“I do think before I was chasing a lot the birdies,” said Koerstz Madsen. “I have changed my game plan a little bit the way I hit into the greens. Nicki is in charge of that actually. I just hit the shot. He tells me exactly where I should hit the ball. Just the mentality of not being too aggressive, going after everything, and it’s okay to have a 7-meter putt. Sometimes that’s good enough. And then you go for the pin wherever you can, obviously.

“The British Open was really a good experience for me. I think after the British Open I really wanted to put myself in that position again, so I worked very hard to get there again.”

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Six Thai players to watch at Honda LPGA Thailand, including a world-class rookie

A total of 10 players from Thailand are in the field this week. Here’s a closer look at some of the host nation’s best.

As the Honda LPGA Thailand celebrates its 15th year, golf in Thailand has never been so robust. Last year Ariya Jutanugarn became the first Thai player to win the event, fitting given that she was the first Thai to win on the LPGA and rise to No. 1.

Incredibly, Thai players finished 1-2-3 last year with LPGA rookie Atthaya Thitikul placing second and last year’s Chevron winner, Patty Tavatanakit coming in third.

This marks the 10th time the Honda Thailand will be contested on the Pattaya Old Course at Siam Country Club.

A total of 10 players from Thailand are in the field: Jaravee Boonchant (Bangkok), Ariya Jutanugarn (Bangkok), Moriya Jutanugarn (Bangkok), Wichanee Meechai (Bangkok), Jasmine Suwannapura (Bangkok), Rina Tatematsu (Bangkok), Patty Tavatanakit (Bangkok), Prima Thammaraks (Bangkok), Atthaya Thitikul (Ratchaburi) and Chanettee Wannasaen (Chiang Mai).

Here’s a closer look at some of the host nation’s best: