Keeping and Eye On: Ariya Jutanugarn
First Round Recap 64
Thailand’s 17-year-old sensation Ariya Jutanugarn (@jutanugarn) took Thursday’s first round by storm and delivered a 7-under 64 to take the lead at the Kingsmill Championship (@KingsmillLPGA). She opened up her round with six birdies on the front nine and followed up with two more through 16 before carding a double-bogey on the par-3 17th. She ended the round with a 5-foot birdie putt on No. 18 to finish with a two-stroke lead over 16-year LPGA Tour veteran Cristie Kerr (@CKGolferChic).
Jutanugarn, who is a rookie on the Ladies European Tour, recently recorded her first professional win in March at the LET’s stop in Morocco and leads the LET money list after competing in just four events. She turned some heads on the LPGA Tour this year when she finished runner-up to Inbee Park (@InbeePark) at the Honda LPGA Thailand after a carding a triple-bogey on 18th hole, which cost her the title. She has also recorded two additional top-5 LPGA Tour finishes at the HSBC Women’s Champions (@HSBCWomensGolf) and the LPGA LOTTE Championship Presented by J Golf.
Second Round Recap 71
Seventeen year-old Thailand native Ariya Jutanugarn shot even-par 71 in the second round of the Kingsmill Championship to maintain sole possession of the lead and heads into the weekend at 7-under par. Rolex Rankings No. 2 Stacy Lewis and No. 18 Angela Stanford trail the teenager by one stroke and are tied for second at 6-under par.
Jutanugarn got off to a rough start on Friday, dropping shots on three of her first eight holes and made the turn at No. 18 at 3-over for the day. She blamed her flat stick for her early troubles and said all three bogeys on Nos. 10, 16, 17 came on missed short putts within five feet.
“So it just like have to keep like my putting, you know, everything's like I hit my irons like very good, my driver is like perfect, so I just want to try to fix my putting,” said Jutanugarn. “So after the front nine, my putting's get better but I still miss a lot of short putt.”
She gained her composure for her back nine and got her first birdie on the par 5 3rd hole. She went on to drain a 45-foot birdie putt on the par 3 5th hole and moved back to even par for the day with her final birdie on No. 7. The youngster, who her competitors have described as fearless, showed no signs of intimidation and said when she looked at the leaderboard, she did a good job of paying attention to herself.
“You know, when I first start on the front nine, I saw the leader, so it's okay, I just want to keep my game,” said Jutanugarn. “And right now for me everybody still have chance to win, so I just do my best my last two day.”
