Tag: Siam Country Club

Prize money payouts for each player at 2023 Honda LPGA Thailand

Here’s the full breakdown of the $1.7 million purse.

American Lilia Vu won the Honda LPGA Thailand in her debut and collected $255,000 for her efforts. The 25-year-old has now crossed $1 million in career earnings, with $1,177,769 since her rookie year in 2019.

“Feels really good to get it done,” she said. “I feel like I put a lot of pressure on myself at the end of last year, and during the off-season I kind of just changed my mindset. Like I always knew I was going to win, I just got to let it happen.

Thailand’s Natthakritta Vongtaveelap, a rookie who was playing on a sponsor exemption, banked a sizable check in her first LPGA tournament as a member: $157,780.

Here’s the full breakdown of the $1.7 million purse:

Position Player Score Earnings
1 Lilia Vu -22 $255,000
2 Natthakritta Vongtaveelap -21 $157,780
3 Atthaya Thitikul -20 $114,458
T4 Celine Boutier -17 $79,904
T4 Maja Stark -17 $79,904
T6 Lydia Ko -16 $47,079
T6 Leona Maguire -16 $47,079
T6 Nelly Korda -16 $47,079
T6 Jin Young Ko -16 $47,079
T10 Hyo Joo Kim -15 $30,510
T10 Jodi Ewart Shadoff -15 $30,510
T10 Georgia Hall -15 $30,510
T10 Ashleigh Buhai -15 $30,510
T10 Anna Nordqvist -15 $30,510
T15 Xiyu Lin -14 $24,360
T15 Maria Fassi -14 $24,360
T17 Jaravee Boonchant -13 $21,481
T17 Cheyenne Knight -13 $21,481
T17 Ryann O’Toole -13 $21,481
T20 Yuka Saso -12 $19,177
T20 Sei Young Kim -12 $19,177
T20 Alison Lee -12 $19,177
T23 Emily Kristine Pedersen -11 $16,824
T23 Nasa Hataoka -11 $16,824
T23 Charley Hull -11 $16,824
T23 Madelene Sagstrom -11 $16,824
T27 Muni He -10 $13,599
T27 Hye Jin Choi -10 $13,599
T27 In-gee Chun -10 $13,599
T27 Hinako Shibuno -10 $13,599
T27 Eun-Hee Ji -10 $13,599
T27 Carlota Ciganda -10 $13,599
T27 Pornanong Phatlum -10 $13,599
T34 Saki Baba -9 –
T34 A Lim Kim -9 $11,057
T34 Amy Yang -9 $11,057
T34 Jenny Shin -9 $11,057
T38 Danielle Kang -8 $9,200
T38 Megan Khang -8 $9,200
T38 Nanna Koerstz Madsen -8 $9,200
T38 Moriya Jutanugarn -8 $9,200
T38 Linn Grant -8 $9,200
T38 Akie Iwai -8 $9,200
T44 Frida Kinhult -7 $7,360
T44 Brooke Henderson -7 $7,360
T44 Hannah Green -7 $7,360
T44 Paula Reto -7 $7,360
T44 Elizabeth Szokol -7 $7,360
T49 Ayaka Furue -5 $6,435
T49 Mina Harigae -5 $6,435
T51 Chanettee Wannasaen -4 $5,528
T51 Yuting Shi -4 $5,528
T51 Andrea Lee -4 $5,528
T51 Allisen Corpuz -4 $5,528
T51 Gemma Dryburgh -4 $5,528
T51 Lizette Salas -4 $5,528
T51 Ariya Jutanugarn -4 $5,528
T58 Gaby Lopez -3 $4,751
T58 Sarah Schmelzel -3 $4,751
T60 Arpichaya Yubol -2 $4,298
T60 Chisato Iwai -2 $4,298
T60 Jennifer Kupcho -2 $4,298
T60 Na Rin An -2 $4,298
T64 Wichanee Meechai -1 $3,974
T64 Jeongeun Lee -1 $3,974
T64 Matilda Castren -1 $3,974
67 Minjee Lee E $3,801
68 Stacy Lewis 1 $3,715
69 Sophia Schubert 2 $3,627
70 Pajaree Anannarukarn 3 $3,542
71 Chella Choi 6 $3,456
72 Patty Tavatanakit 8 $3,413

 

‘I basically just blacked out’: American Lilia Vu races from six back in Thailand to claim first LPGA victory

Vu hit 11 fairways and 11 greens and needed only 21 putts Sunday, pouring in a lengthy putt for par on the 17th to maintain the lead.

Lilia Vu came out firing on a windy day in Thailand. The former UCLA standout began the day six back and birdied two of her first three holes. After carding a string of five consecutive birdies in the middle of the round, Vu took the lead after a birdie on the par-4 15th over local favorite Natthakritta Vongtaveelap, an LPGA rookie who was playing the Honda LPGA Thailand on a sponsor exemption.

Vu never looked back.

“Today I basically just blacked out and tried to birdie every single hole,” said Vu. “If I didn’t, just move on and try again.

“Got into the scoring tent and didn’t know what I shot.”

Vu, 25, who was making her debut at the Honda, carded a bogey-free 64 on Sunday to finish at 22 under and clip Vongtaveelap (71) by one stroke to win her first LPGA title. Former World No. 1 Atthaya Thitikul finished two back after a closing 68.

Vu hit 11 fairways and 11 greens and needed only 21 putts Sunday, pouring in a lengthy putt for par on the 17th to maintain the lead.

“I knew I was going to win,” said Vu. “It was just when.”

2023 Honda LPGA Thailand
Lilia Vu plays her second shot at the 18th hole during the final round of the 2023 Honda LPGA Thailand at Siam Country Club in Chon Buri, Thailand. (Photo: Thananuwat Srirasant/Getty Images)

A host of big names finished in a share of sixth, including current World No. 1 Lydia Ko, Nelly Korda, Leona Maguire and Jin Young Ko, who also shot 64.

Jin Young, who suffered from a severe wrist injury last season, says meditating helped her greatly over the offseason. Thailand marked the first time Ko has recorded four rounds in the 60s at a tournament since the 2022 Amundi Evian.

She’ll be defending her title next week in Singapore.

“I cried a lot last year in front of my parents,” Jin Young said, “but, yeah, golf is a lot of ups and downs so we have to focus on my game and try to get better then better. I think it works.”

Lydia Ko, who won last week in Saudi Arabia on the LET, said her putting wasn’t as strong in Thailand.

A bogey on the second hole and a double-bogey on the fourth made it all the more difficult for 20-year-old Vongtaveelap, who earned her LPGA card through Q-Series last December and was playing her first tour event as a member.

“I need to practice more on playing against the strong wind,” she said.

Vu earned $255,000 for her victory, taking her career earnings to $1,177,769.

After finishing in the top 3 on three different occasions last year and not hoisting a trophy, a frustrated Vu changed her approach.

“Feels really good to get it done,” she said. “I feel like I put a lot of pressure on myself at the end of last year, and during the off-season I kind of just changed my mindset. Like I always knew I was going to win, I just got to let it happen.

“The more you hold onto something, I feel like it gets farther away. I came close a lot towards the end of the last season, so I was just going to have fun and play my game and it would eventually work itself out.”

During her first year on the LPGA in 2019, Vu made one cut in nine starts and earned $3,830. The winningest player in UCLA history, with eight titles, considered hanging it up and going to law school.

Vu’s mom, however, convinced her to stay the course.

“I was in a really negative mindset, even my rookie year out here,” said Vu. “I didn’t feel like I belonged. Felt like every shot was life or death. I would look at the ball and set up and wouldn’t know where I was going to go because I was so nervous.”

Vu lost her card and found herself at an Epson Tour event in early 2020. She’d just been to visit her ailing grandfather before she left and he told her in Vietnamese, “Go play well. Do your best.”

Shortly after they returned to California, he died.

“It just really hit me that I was in a bad spot with my golf,” said Vu, “and the last thing he ever said to me was ‘play well.’

“Like out of all the things, he’s like struggling and he was thinking of me. I think that’s what I think about every day.”

Vu opened 2023 with a share of third at the Aramco Saudi Ladies International. U.S. Solheim Cup captain Stacy Lewis gave her a book earlier in the week with a note inside that said good playing. As a former top-ranked amateur who has represented the United States on numerous occasions, Vu loves team events. She has a picture of a past Solheim Cup team up on her wall as part of a vision board.

Lewis, so impressed by Vu’s play, predicted last year that Vu might not even need a pick to make the team.

Before leaving for Saudi Arabia, Vu admitted that she almost had a mental breakdown, thinking that she’d had all this time to prepare, yet didn’t feel that her game was sharp enough.

“And I was wrong,” she said.

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This 20-year-old playing on a sponsor exemption leads the Honda LPGA Thailand by 4 heading into final round

Sunday is shaping up to be special.

There’s a pair of Thai players on top of the leaderboard in Thailand. One of them has been No. 1 in the world. The other is leading by four while playing on a sponsor exemption.

Twenty-year-old Natthakritta Vongtaveelap shot 8-under 64 on Saturday to increase her lead to four shots over reigning LPGA rookie of the year Atthaya Thitikul with 18 holes to play at the Honda LPGA Thailand at Siam Country Club. Vongtaveelap, who got into the field after winning a national qualifier earlier this year, is one round away from a life-changing victory in her first LPGA start.

“Really good today,” she said of Saturday’s round. “Perfect.”

Vongtaveelap turned professional last November after advancing through the first two stages of LPGA Q-School. She earned LPGA membership for 2023 after finishing in a tie for 28th at LPGA Q-Series.

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Her third round started with an eagle and she closed with three consecutive birdies. Vongtaveelap has only two bogeys on the week. She said the Thai crowds have been extremely supportive.

“I try to be myself, be with the game, and I think I can make it,” she said.

Thitikul matched Vontaveelap with a round of 64. Celine Boutier is in third at 15 under. World No. 1 Lydia Ko and No. 2 Nelly Korda are at 13 under and T-7.

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Bangkok rookie, known as ‘Sim 300’ for her power off the tee, leads early at 2023 Honda LPGA Thailand

Natthakritta Vongtaveelap is playing on a sponsor exemption and leading.

A trio of Thai players are in the top 10 of the Honda LPGA Thailand, including a rookie who leads the field at 12 under.

Natthakritta Vongtaveelap, 20, got into the field after winning a national qualifier for the event earlier this year. She’s competing on a sponsor exemption and making the most of her experience, carding a second-round 65 to take a one-stroke lead over Sweden’s Maja Stark. Vongtaveelap carded six birdies on her back nine.

“This is my first time, you know,” she said of her Honda debut. “It’s my largest crowd in my life.”

Bangkok’s Vongtaveelap turned professional last November after advancing through the first two stages of LPGA Q-School. She earned LPGA membership for 2023 after finishing in a tie for 28th at LPGA Q-Series. Vongtaveelap goes by “Sim” and is known as “Sim 300” for her distance off the tee.

Duke grad Jaravee Boonchant, another LPGA rookie, sits in a share of third while LPGA veteran Pornanong Phatlum holds a share of eighth, three back.

Thailand’s Atthaya Thitikul, last year’s LPGA Rookie of the Year, trails by four at T-15. 2022 U.S Women’s Amateur champion Saki Baba, who is also competing on a sponsor exemption, is tied for 20th at 7 under.

Stark, who holed out twice for eagle in the opening round, has won seven times worldwide since she left Oklahoma State early to turn professional in the summer of 2021. Her victory at the ISPS Handa World Invitational last summer earned her an LPGA card. She currently tops the LET’s Solheim Cup points list.

“I’ve been trying to get better at handling nerves, but I feel like I’m going to have nerves the whole weekend, so I’m just going to keep playing aggressively anyway. Just keep putting my foot on the pedal and try to go low. Not compare myself to other people. Just try to make as many birdies as I can do because can’t affect the way they’re playing.”

Nelly Korda of United States looks on putting green at 18th hole during the second round of the Honda LPGA Thailand at Siam Country Club on February 24, 2023 in Chon Buri. (Photo by Thananuwat Srirasant/Getty Images)

Second-ranked Korda’s 66 was highlighted by a chip-in for eagle on the par-5 10th hole. Korda, whose sister Jessica won this event in 2018, said she was in between clubs on her second shot and opted to hit 3-wood off the downhill slope. She’d actually practiced the chip shot that followed earlier in the week.

“It was a tricky shot,” said Korda. “It was an undulated green kind of with not much room to work with, a little downhill left-to-righter, and then coming back left and I just landed it perfectly.”

World No. 1 Lydia Ko won last week in Saudi Arabia and trails by four after back-to-back 68s.

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LPGA: 5 things to look for in Thailand, where Lydia Ko, Nelly Korda and Jin Young Ko are primed for battle along with Japanese teen sensation Saki Baba

Nine of the top 10 players in the world are in Asia this week.

Nine of the top 10 players in the world are in Asia this week for the 16th staging of the Honda LPGA Thailand. American Lexi Thompson, No. 6, is the only top-10 player not in the field at Siam Country Club’s Pattaya Old Course in Chonburi.

World No. 1 Lydia Ko heads into Thailand hot off a victory at the Aramco Saudi Ladies International, where she won $750,000. It’s the newlywed’s third victory worldwide in her last four starts, earning her more than $3 million in that stretch.

2022 major champions Minjee Lee and In Gee Chun will join Ko in beginning their LPGA seasons this week.

Last year, Denmark’s Nanna Koerstz Madsen notched her first LPGA victory at the Honda LPGA Thailand, defeating Xiyu Lin with an eagle on the second playoff hole.

Here are five things to look for this week in steamy Thailand, where scores are low and the humidity is high: