Duo Atthaya Thitikul and Ruoning Yin edged out the rest of the competition to earn a one-shot victory at the Dow Championship in Michigan.
The former world No. 1s, who paired up for the first time, came into the final round tied for second and hit three consecutive birdies as well as birdies at 8 and 9 building momentum. However, that momentum was slowed on the back nine, which saw American pair Ally Ewing and Jennifer Kupcho comeback to tie for the lead thanks to back-to-back birdies of their own.
Both pairs were neck-and-neck as they approached the par-3 18th which saw Thitikul sink the crucial 12-foot birdie putt, a putt Ewing and Kupcho were unable to match, to seal the victory on 22 under.
“I knew it was good when I putted it, but I wasn’t too sure of the line, Thirikul said. I couldn’t tell anything.. For example, if you have just a hole, a pitch mark, and then it kicks out. It’s golf. I was just like, wow, it’s in.”
It is both their third career LPGA titles with each earning a payout of $366,082.
Reacting to her pairs narrow defeat, Ewing said: “We got off to a slow start, but we hung in there,” Ewing said. “It wasn’t easy. I think in these tournaments, if you get to hole 18 (and) you have a chance to win the golf tournament or force a play-off, that’s all you ask for.”
South Korean duo In Kyung Kim and Haeji Kang hit a 65 in the final round to finish tied-third alongside Danish pair Nicole Broch Estrup and Nanna Koerstz Madsen on 19 under.
What is the next event?
The next event on the LPGA Tour is the Amundi Evian Championship taking place between 11-14 July at Evian Resort Golf Club in France.
