UNITED STATES: Thailand’s Jasmine Suwannapura earned her third career LPGA Tour title in dramatic fashion at the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship presented by P&G, making an eagle on the second hole of a sudden-death playoff against American Luci Li at Pinnacle Country Club.
Suwannapura and Li shot stunning rounds of 61 and 60, respectively, on Sunday to soar up the leaderboard and finish in a tie for first on 17-under-par after 54 holes. After two exciting playoff holes, it was the 31-year-old Suwannapura who emerged triumphant over her 21-year-old rival.
Teeing off in the ninth-to-last group and beginning her day in a tie for 25th, Li chalked up three eagles and seven birdies against two early bogeys to sign in a career low 11-under-par 60 and break the 18-hole tournament scoring record.
In the group behind Li, Suwannapura opened her final round with two birdies in the first two holes. She picked up one more birdie on the front nine at the par-three 6
th hole to turn at 10-under-par overall, in a tie with Li.
Suwannapura caught fire on the back nine with five more birdies on holes 10, 11, 13, 14 and 16 and, after watching Li make eagle on 18, knew she would need to respond to force extra holes. The Thai player found the green in two and made her resulting eagle putt to sign in a 10-underpar 61, matching Li’s clubhouse lead of 17-under-par.
After the final groups completed play with no one else matching their final scores, Li and Suwannapura headed to the 18th tee for the playoff. On the first extra hole, both players reached the green in two shots and narrowly missed their eagle putts to settle for matching birdies.
On the second playoff hole, also at the 18th, Li pulled her drive to the left rough while Suwannapura found the centre of the fairway. After Li’s second shot found the fringe, more than 50 feet from the pin, Suwannapura nailed her approach to 15 feet of the flag. After Li’s third shot wound up short, Suwannapura sank her right-to-left eagle putt to claim her first LPGA Tour victory in five years.
“This week, I think my mindset was pretty solid. My mental was really good this week. Literally it was hole by hole, shot by shot, and it actually filtered a lot of good and bad things out of my mind,” said Suwannapura, who had her husband Michael Thomas on the bag.
“I don’t think we have expectations today at all. Literally, just try to climb the leaderboard. When I had a chance, I tried to make birdie; literally just never look back,” she added.
The victory was Suwannapura’s first on the LPGA Tour since the 2019 Dow Championship, which she won with partner Cydney Clanton. This was her second playoff success following the 2018 Dana Open when she defeated Brittany Lincicome after one extra hole.
The US$450,000 winner’s cheque took Suwannapura past the US$4 million mark in career earnings with US$4,054,098. In 2016, she suffered a career-threatening spine injury that necessitated a swing change to relieve the pressure on her back.
While the final result was disappointing for Li, the two-time Epson Tour winner and former child prodigy was happy to be in contention for her first LPGA Tour title.
“It’s great to be in contention. Jasmine played so great. She eagled 18 and eagled it again in the playoff. I feel like I really couldn’t have done much more,” said Li, who became the youngest ever qualifier for the U.S. Women’s Amateur and the U.S. Women’s Open at age 11 in 2014.
Suwannapura is the fifth player from Thailand to win on the LPGA Tour this year, joining Moriya Jutanugarn (Portland Classic), Patty Tavatanakit (Honda LPGA Thailand), Jeeno Thitikul (Dow Championship) and Chanettee Wannasaen (Dana Open). She joins Thitikul (3), Moriya (3) and Ariya (12) as players from Thailand to have at least three career LPGA Tour titles. Finishing one shot behind Li and Suwannapura, Korean Sei Young Kim claimed solo third place on 16-under-par after making a left-to-right 20-footer for eagle on the 18th and a closing 63.
Rookie Mao Saigo of Japan (65) and Thailand’s Arpichaya Yubol (66) tied for fourth on 14-underpar, one shot ahead of 36-hole leader Ashleigh Buhai of South Africa who closed with a 69. Following a one-week break, the LPGA Tour will embark on a four-event Asian swing which includes the Maybank Championship at Kuala Lumpur Golf & Country Club from October 24-27.
