South Korean the beneficiary as Thai bungles the 18th hole
Ariya Jutanugarn's lack of experience showed when it mattered most. The teenager squandered a two-stroke lead on the last hole to stumble to a triple bogey and lost to South Korean Park In-bee by a shot in the final round of the Honda LPGA Thailand, which witnessed high drama yesterday.
Over 10,000 fans were ready to celebrate the success of Thailand's first ever winner on the LPGA tour before the unexpected happened. Leading by two and 14-under over world No 4, who had already finished her final round at 12-under, the 17-year-old broke down and missed easy putts on the 18th leading to a devastating triple bogey, a final score of 73 and a heart-breaking second place at 11-under-par 277. The meltdown virtually handed the title, that should have belonged to her, to Park, who settled with a 276.
Perhaps it was the huge crowd that followed her foursome or the unfamiliarity of leading in a professional tournament that unnerved her. After taking a penalty when her approach shot got plugged deep into the side of the greenside bunker, Ariya hit a woeful fourth shot that flew over the green. She needed two more putts to stand less than two feet from forcing a play-off as tensions reached a crescendo.
Then came the anti-climax. Ariya, hoping to relieve the tension as quickly as possible, hit the double-bogey putt a wee bit hard and the ball hit the lip of the cup and bounced away. The teenager was in tears.
"I lost sense. I shouldn't have gone for too much on the 18th hole. I found myself in a tough position. But I thought I should have finished with a bogey at worst and would have won by a stroke. I didn't expect it would end this bad," said an emotional Ariya, who won a consolation prize of a Honda CRV 2.4 EL worth Bt1.52 million after hitting a hole in one on the par-3, 161-yard 12th hole. The loss was a great lesson and may prove a valuable one in her fledgling golfing career.
She said the support of the fans was awesome.
"I started the day trying to win not for myself but for the whole country, as I knew so many people wanted to see me win. I was sad I couldn't make it but I'm overwhelmed to see their support and love in my difficult moment," said Ariya, still in tears in the clubhouse. Second place is by far the best result by a Thai on the LPGA tour. Pornanong Phatlum won the Brazil Open in Rio de Janeiro last May but it was an unofficial LGA competition.
Park, who was watching the drama unfold on the television screen in the clubhouse, celebrated with her caddie her fourth career victory.
"If I was in Ariya's situation, I would be very, very nervous. I don't think I would have handled the pressure until the last hole. I think she handled the pressure well today and the whole week. I think something like this happening will be a good experience. She's going to be a great player," said Park, who is the second South Korean to win after Han Hee Won in 2006.
"I just didn't expect this kind of finish. Out of all the other wins, this win just felt like it was not much work. It was a lot easier this week for me and I really want to congratulate Ariya for her fantastic golf the last four days. She has a lot of fans out here and she's very talented. So I think I'll be seeing more of her," said Park, whose career titles include the 2008 US Women's Open.
Taiwanese Yani Tseng proved why she is has been No 1 in the world for the past two seasons as she shot a final round 63 for an aggregate 10-under-par 278 to take joint third with Beatriz Recari of Spain, American Stacy Lewis and Ryu So-yeon of South Korea.
Pornanong Phatlum hit a final 71 to become the second best Thai finisher with an even-par 288 to take 31st place. Ariya's elder sister Moriya hit a 97 for a joint 59th, while amateurs Suppamas Sangchan landed with a 298 and Numa Gulyanamitta with a 305.
Final-round scores (par 72):
276 - Inbee Park (KOR) 67-71-71-67
277 - Ariya Jutanugarn (THA) 69-66-70-72
278 - Tseng Yani (TPE) 75-68-72-63, So-Yeon Ryu (KOR) 68-68-74-68, Stacy Lewis (USA) 63-69-76-70, Beatriz Recari (ESP) 68-68-72-70
279 - Choi Na-Yeon (KOR) 73-71-67-68
280 - Feng Shanshan (CHN) 71-72-68-69, Lizette Salas (USA) 68-69-73-70
281 - I.K Kim (KOR) 70-72-72-67, Gerina Piller (USA) 67-74-70-70
282 - Lexi Thompson (USA) 71-70-72-69, Amy Yang (KOR) 67-75-70-70
283 - Lydia Ko (NZ) 69-71-74-69, Jessica Korda (USA) 73-67-74-69, Nicole Castrale (USA) 74-68-71-70, Shin Ji-Yai (KOR) 70-73-70-70, Catriona Matthew (SCO) 67-69-76-71
284 - Danielle Kang (USA) 76-70-71-67
285 - Caroline Hedwall (SWE) 69-75-72-69, Azahara Munoz (ESP) 70-73-73-69, Suzann Pettersen (NOR) 71-70-74-70, Ai Miyazato (JPN) 69-71-74-71
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Article source: http://www.thethailandlinks.com/2013/02/25/ariya-meltdown-hands-park-the-title/
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