Ariya Jutanugarn Wins First Career Major At 2016 Ricoh Women’s British Open

Ariya Jutanugarn (click to enlarge)

You didn’t expect it to be easy, did you? After making it look like she was going to run away from the field early in the final round, Ariya Jutanugarn had to hold her nerves and come through in the clutch to with the 2016 Ricoh Women’s British Open. Don’t let the 3 shot separation between Jutanugarn (-16) and the duo of Mo Martin and Mirim Lee (-13) after 72 holes fool you. May took the scenic route to her first career Major. Beginning the day, Mirim trailed May by only 2 shots, 16-under to 14-under. By the time Jutanugarn recorded her second birdie of the day on the 6th hole, combined with Mirim stumbling out of the gate, May had a 6 shot lead at 18-under. At that point it seemed Karrie Webb and Karen Stupples were in jeopardy of losing their 19-under Women’s British Open scoring record. Not to worry, that record is safe for at least another year.

Mirim Lee (click to enlarge)

Mirim Lee was able to shake off a front 9 to forget and get hot after the turn. She birdied 10, 11 and 12 to get to 14-under. Ariya Jutanugarn, whether it was the heat Mirim was putting on her or just nerves, nearly imploded with a bogey at 9 and a double bogey on 13. Suddenly, not only had her 6 shot lead been shrunk to just 1 at 15-under, she also let 2014 Women’s British Open champion Mo Martin back in the tournament. For anybody familiar with May’s history, this had the look of another loss snatched from the jaws of victory. But this is not the same Jutanugarn that probably should have won the year’s first Major, the ANA Inspiration, but fell apart. This is a 3-time winner who has fought through errant shotmaking stretches to win. And she did it again, nailing a clutch birdie on 17 to move back to a 2-shot lead on Lee. A bogey by Mirim on 18 made it a 3 shot win for May, but clearly the margin of victory does not tell the story of this round.

Ariya Jutanugarn (click to enlarge)

At the end of the day, Ariya Jutanugarn got the job done. She did not back into her 4th title of the season and first Major. She played superbly for 3 and 1/2 rounds, which allowed her to survive a rough stretch coming home. With the title, she is expected to move to #3 in the world. Over on the Seoul Sisters golf forum, one of the posters noted how her ranking of #6 in the world coming into this event was not reflective of where she truly is in the women’s golf pecking order. So that has now been corrected. She might even go higher than this. She is the first Thai player, male or female, to win Major. Why not be the first to be ranked #1? [NOTE: As per Monday’s Rolex Rankings release, Ariya has moved to #2 following her WBO win!] I don’t know if her game is as complete as Lydia Ko, and I never underestimate Brooke Henderson. Frankly, I don’t underestimate any of the top players. What if Stacy Lewis gets hot and starts winning again? What if So Yeon Ryu starts to be able to finish off tournaments where she has chances to win? What if any of the talented young players like Sei-Young Kim, In-Gee Chun or Hyo-Joo Kim goes on a tear? Oh, and let’s not forget about the absent Inbee Park. There are a lot of players that could stand between Jutanugarn and the #1 ranking. But if May keeps playing like she has since the month of May, those other players will need their best to keep her at bay.

 

 

ALL PICS CLICK TO ENLARGE

1 ARIYA JUTANUGARN (-16)

with sister, Moriya Jutanugarn

hugging mom

with Jason O’Malley, GM of Woburn Golf Club, and sons

with low amateur Leona Maguire

 

T2 MIRIM LEE (-13)

 

T2 MO MARTIN (-13)

 

LEADERBOARD

Pos	Name	1	2	3	4	Today	Thru	Total	Strokes
1	Ariya Jutanugarn	65	69	66	72	E	F	-16	272
T2	Mo Martin	68	68	69	70	-2	F	-13	275
T2	Mirim Lee	62	71	69	73	+1	F	-13	275
4	Stacy Lewis	67	70	70	70	-2	F	-11	277
T5	Ha Na Jang	68	67	73	71	-1	F	-9	279
T5	Karrie Webb	69	69	70	71	-1	F	-9	279
T5	Catriona Matthew	70	65	71	73	+1	F	-9	279
T8	So Yeon Ryu	69	70	71	70	-2	F	-8	280
T8	In Gee Chun	72	71	67	70	-2	F	-8	280
T8	Lexi Thompson	72	67	69	72	E	F	-8	280
T11	Mi Hyang Lee	67	73	73	68	-4	F	-7	281
T11	Megan Khang	71	72	70	68	-4	F	-7	281
T11	Hee Kyung Bae	72	71	69	69	-3	F	-7	281
T14	Beth Allen	70	72	71	69	-3	F	-6	282
T14	Teresa Lu	69	71	71	71	-1	F	-6	282
T14	Beatriz Recari	69	72	69	72	E	F	-6	282
T17	Charley Hull	69	70	75	69	-3	F	-5	283
T17	Azahara Munoz	68	71	73	71	-1	F	-5	283
T17	Haru Nomura	72	68	72	71	-1	F	-5	283
T17	Lee-Anne Pace	73	69	70	71	-1	F	-5	283
T17	Mi Jung Hur	74	70	68	71	-1	F	-5	283
T17	Sarah Jane Smith	68	72	70	73	+1	F	-5	283
T17	Nicole Broch Larsen	72	68	70	73	+1	F	-5	283
T17	Shanshan Feng	66	68	74	75	+3	F	-5	283
T25	Caroline Masson	76	69	72	67	-5	F	-4	284
T25	Lizette Salas	72	71	71	70	-2	F	-4	284
T25	Karine Icher	73	69	71	71	-1	F	-4	284
T25	Minjee Lee	71	73	69	71	-1	F	-4	284
T25	Jodi Ewart Shadoff	71	71	70	72	E	F	-4	284
T25	Leona Maguire	71	70	68	75	+3	F	-4	284
T31	Carlota Ciganda	74	70	71	70	-2	F	-3	285
T31	Alena Sharp	68	72	74	71	-1	F	-3	285
T31	Anna Nordqvist	72	71	71	71	-1	F	-3	285
T31	Alison Lee	71	70	72	72	E	F	-3	285
T31	Yani Tseng	69	72	72	72	E	F	-3	285
T31	Candie Kung	72	69	70	74	+2	F	-3	285
T37	Gaby Lopez	72	69	73	72	E	F	-2	286
T37	Camilla Lennarth	70	70	70	76	+4	F	-2	286
T39	Chella Choi	75	66	72	74	+2	F	-1	287
T39	Emily Kristine Pedersen	73	69	71	74	+2	F	-1	287
T39	Lydia Ko	74	70	69	74	+2	F	-1	287
T42	Brittany Lincicome	69	76	72	71	-1	F	E	288
T42	Kelly Shon	73	67	76	72	E	F	E	288
T42	Jennifer Song	70	72	71	75	+3	F	E	288
T42	Moriya Jutanugarn	69	76	68	75	+3	F	E	288
T46	Ashleigh Simon	71	68	77	73	+1	F	+1	289
T46	Lina Boqvist	74	71	71	73	+1	F	+1	289
T46	Sandra Gal	70	75	70	74	+2	F	+1	289
T49	Sung Hyun Park	72	70	77	71	-1	F	+2	290
T49	Christina Kim	74	71	73	72	E	F	+2	290
T49	Gerina Piller	73	72	72	73	+1	F	+2	290
T49	Bronte Law	70	70	76	74	+2	F	+2	290
T49	Eun-Hee Ji	74	70	72	74	+2	F	+2	290
T49	Sei Young Kim	69	69	77	75	+3	F	+2	290
T49	Brooke Henderson	71	72	72	75	+3	F	+2	290
T49	In-Kyung Kim	69	73	71	77	+5	F	+2	290
T57	Brittany Altomare	71	73	75	72	E	F	+3	291
T57	Mika Miyazato	69	71	74	77	+5	F	+3	291
T59	Marina Alex	71	71	75	75	+3	F	+4	292
T59	Brittany Lang	72	71	74	75	+3	F	+4	292
T59	Jiyai Shin	72	71	74	75	+3	F	+4	292
T59	Yukari Nishiyama	73	69	73	77	+5	F	+4	292
T59	Angela Stanford	71	70	71	80	+8	F	+4	292
T64	Melissa Reid	72	70	77	74	+2	F	+5	293
T64	Maria McBride	72	73	72	76	+4	F	+5	293
T64	Tiffany Joh	71	71	74	77	+5	F	+5	293
T64	Ai Suzuki	72	73	71	77	+5	F	+5	293
68	Maude-Aimee Leblanc	71	71	73	79	+7	F	+6	294
T69	Su-Hyun Oh	73	72	76	74	+2	F	+7	295
T69	Chloe Leurquin	74	71	74	76	+4	F	+7	295
71	Cristie Kerr	72	73	72	79	+7	F	+8	296
72	Maria Parra	69	74	78	76	+4	F	+9	297
73	Marta Sanz Barrio	72	73	74	82	+10	F	+13	301
74	Vicky Hurst	70	74	78	81	+9	F	+15	303
T75	Luna Sobron	71	75	70	74	–	–	–	290
T75	Q Baek	77	69	MC	MC	–	–	–	146
T75	Laetitia Beck	71	75	MC	MC	–	–	–	146
T75	Cydney Clanton	72	74	MC	MC	–	–	–	146
T75	Mina Harigae	74	72	MC	MC	–	–	–	146
T75	Danielle Kang	75	71	MC	MC	–	–	–	146
T75	Kim Kaufman	73	73	MC	MC	–	–	–	146
T75	Hannah O’Sullivan	70	76	MC	MC	–	–	–	146
T75	Annie Park	72	74	MC	MC	–	–	–	146
T75	Paula Reto	73	73	MC	MC	–	–	–	146
T75	Marianne Skarpnord	75	71	MC	MC	–	–	–	146
T75	Angel Yin	71	75	MC	MC	–	–	–	146
T75	Sakura Yokomine	74	72	MC	MC	–	–	–	146
T75	Liz Young	73	73	MC	MC	–	–	–	146
T89	Amy Boulden	72	75	MC	MC	–	–	–	147
T89	Katie Burnett	75	72	MC	MC	–	–	–	147
T89	Na Yeon Choi	73	74	MC	MC	–	–	–	147
T89	Lydia Hall	73	74	MC	MC	–	–	–	147
T89	Wei-Ling Hsu	74	73	MC	MC	–	–	–	147
T89	Jessica Korda	75	72	MC	MC	–	–	–	147
T89	Ilhee Lee	76	71	MC	MC	–	–	–	147
T89	Pernilla Lindberg	73	74	MC	MC	–	–	–	147
T89	Lee Lopez	76	71	MC	MC	–	–	–	147
T89	Ryann O’Toole	72	75	MC	MC	–	–	–	147
T89	Suzann Pettersen	73	74	MC	MC	–	–	–	147
T89	Isabella Ramsay	72	75	MC	MC	–	–	–	147
T89	Jenny Shin	73	74	MC	MC	–	–	–	147
T89	Nontaya Srisawang	74	73	MC	MC	–	–	–	147
T89	Mariajo Uribe	74	73	MC	MC	–	–	–	147
T104	Isabelle Boineau	72	76	MC	MC	–	–	–	148
T104	Julia Engstrom	76	72	MC	MC	–	–	–	148
T104	Austin Ernst	75	73	MC	MC	–	–	–	148
T104	Felicity Johnson	72	76	MC	MC	–	–	–	148
T104	Xi Yu Lin	78	70	MC	MC	–	–	–	148
T104	Ai Miyazato	73	75	MC	MC	–	–	–	148
T104	Becky Morgan	74	74	MC	MC	–	–	–	148
T104	Hee Young Park	74	74	MC	MC	–	–	–	148
T104	Momoko Ueda	75	73	MC	MC	–	–	–	148
T104	Sun Young Yoo	74	74	MC	MC	–	–	–	148
T114	Rebecca Artis	75	74	MC	MC	–	–	–	149
T114	Jacqui Concolino	75	74	MC	MC	–	–	–	149
T114	Paula Creamer	76	73	MC	MC	–	–	–	149
T114	Caroline Hedwall	77	72	MC	MC	–	–	–	149
T114	Olivia Mehaffey	75	74	MC	MC	–	–	–	149
T114	Pornanong Phatlum	74	75	MC	MC	–	–	–	149
T114	Morgan Pressel	77	72	MC	MC	–	–	–	149
T114	Linda Wessberg	77	72	MC	MC	–	–	–	149
T114	Michelle Wie	76	73	MC	MC	–	–	–	149
T123	Aditi Ashok	79	71	MC	MC	–	–	–	150
T123	Laura Davies	74	76	MC	MC	–	–	–	150
T123	Gwladys Nocera	75	75	MC	MC	–	–	–	150
T123	Florentyna Parker	76	74	MC	MC	–	–	–	150
T123	Noora Tamminen	77	73	MC	MC	–	–	–	150
T123	Jing Yan	75	75	MC	MC	–	–	–	150
T129	Holly Clyburn	74	77	MC	MC	–	–	–	151
T129	Kylie Walker	78	73	MC	MC	–	–	–	151
T131	Brianna Do	75	77	MC	MC	–	–	–	152
T131	Asuka Kashiwabara	76	76	MC	MC	–	–	–	152
T131	Pamela Pretswell	79	73	MC	MC	–	–	–	152
T131	Kelly Tan	75	77	MC	MC	–	–	–	152
T131	Cheyenne Woods	73	79	MC	MC	–	–	–	152
T131	Anne van Dam	76	76	MC	MC	–	–	–	152
137	Hyo Joo Kim	75	78	MC	MC	–	–	–	153
T138	Georgia Hall	77	77	MC	MC	–	–	–	154
T138	Amelia Lewis	80	74	MC	MC	–	–	–	154
T140	Charlotte Ellis	75	80	MC	MC	–	–	–	155
T140	Stacey Keating	78	77	MC	MC	–	–	–	155
142	Maha Haddioui	78	78	MC	MC	–	–	–	156
143	Nuria Iturrios	73	84	MC	MC	–	–	–	157