Is It Time To Reassess Ariya Jutanugarn After 5th Win Of 2016 LPGA Season At Canadian Pacific Women’s Open?

Ariya Jutanugarn is All Smiles (click to enlarge)

5 for 5. Since May of this year, Ariya Jutanugarn has held the 54-hole lead in an LPGA event 5 times. She has gone on to win the title all 5 times, including this week at the 2016 Canadian Pacific Women’s Open. Don’t look now, but a player whose claim to fame has been collapsing under pressure is tranforming into a closer. After a bogey-par-bogey finish on Saturday let In-Gee Chun back into the hunt, joined by a streaking fellow Seoul Sister Sei-Young Kim on Sunday, Ariya refused to let go of her lead, eventually matching the Canadian Open aggregate score record (265) of Lydia Ko (2013) and So-Yeon Ryu (2014), as well as the lowest score in relation to par (-23) which she now shares with Ryu (2014). It all added up to a 4 shot cushion over Sei-Young   Kim and a 5 shot margin over In-Gee Chun.

Ariya Jutanugarn (click to enlarge)

Whether it’s Pia Nilsson and Lynn Marriott of Vision 54 working with her or her time with coach Gary Gilchrist…or maybe just maturity from all of her past LPGA struggles, each win is coming with a greater sense of calm. It’s starting to become almost…inevitable. There are no tears of joy mixed with relief or shaking limbs like in her first couple of wins. This is not to say she doesn’t still spray some shots. At both the Ricoh Women’s Open and CP Women’s Open, both national Opens she has won in back to back tour schedule events, there have been points where she looked like she was cruising to easy, almost record, wins until a couple of wayward holes let it get closer than it should have been. Still, more and more it’s beginning to look like the name “A. Jutanugarn” atop a leaderboard going into Sunday sends a message to the rest of the field that they are playing for second place. Don’t get me wrong. She will eventually cough up a lead. Multiple times. It happens to the best of them. Like everybody before her, the hot streak will end. All I’m suggesting is that the mental image of her falling apart might need to be left in the past. If you are rooting for a player who is competing against her on Sunday, the best thing would be to root for that player to go really low…not wait for Ariya to implode and hand the tournament to them. That might not be who she is anymore.

 

ALL PICS CLICK TO ENLARGE

1 ARIYA JUTANUGARN (-23)

 

2 SEI-YOUNG KIM (-19)

 

3 IN-GEE CHUN (-18)

 

 

4 ALENA SHARP (-16)

 

LEADERBOARD

Pos	Name	1	2	3	4	Today	Total	Strokes	Purse
1	Ariya Jutanugarn	68	64	67	66	-6	-23	265	$337,500
2	Sei Young Kim	69	67	68	65	-7	-19	269	$207,791
3	In Gee Chun	68	67	66	69	-3	-18	270	$150,737
4	Alena Sharp	68	70	67	67	-5	-16	272	$116,607
T5	Karrie Webb	73	67	69	64	-8	-15	273	$85,323
T5	Anna Nordqvist	71	68	66	68	-4	-15	273	$85,323
T7	Alison Lee	74	67	66	68	-4	-13	275	$57,072
T7	Lydia Ko	67	69	70	69	-3	-13	275	$57,072
T7	Chella Choi	65	71	69	70	-2	-13	275	$57,072
T10	Mo Martin	71	68	71	66	-6	-12	276	$41,466
T10	Ayako Uehara	67	74	68	67	-5	-12	276	$41,466
T10	Suzann Pettersen	68	69	69	70	-2	-12	276	$41,466
T10	Stephanie Meadow	66	69	69	72	E	-12	276	$41,466
T14	Carlota Ciganda	75	67	68	67	-5	-11	277	$29,436
T14	Mi Hyang Lee	71	69	69	68	-4	-11	277	$29,436
T14	Austin Ernst	69	72	68	68	-4	-11	277	$29,436
T14	Maude-Aimee Leblanc	69	69	70	69	-3	-11	277	$29,436
T14	Brooke Henderson	72	68	68	69	-3	-11	277	$29,436
T14	Cristie Kerr	69	71	68	69	-3	-11	277	$29,436
T14	Mirim Lee	67	71	69	70	-2	-11	277	$29,436
T14	Amy Yang	68	69	68	72	E	-11	277	$29,436
22	Stacy Lewis	67	72	69	70	-2	-10	278	$24,345
T23	Azahara Munoz	69	72	69	69	-3	-9	279	$20,563
T23	Nontaya Srisawang	72	70	68	69	-3	-9	279	$20,563
T23	Ryann O’Toole	72	70	70	67	-5	-9	279	$20,563
T23	Mi Jung Hur	67	69	71	72	E	-9	279	$20,563
T23	Jane Park	70	71	67	71	-1	-9	279	$20,563
T23	Morgan Pressel	70	72	65	72	E	-9	279	$20,563
T23	Hyo Joo Kim	69	67	70	73	+1	-9	279	$20,563
T23	Gaby Lopez	71	67	68	73	+1	-9	279	$20,563
T31	Marina Alex	69	71	69	71	-1	-8	280	$16,154
T31	Juli Inkster	70	69	70	71	-1	-8	280	$16,154
T31	Min Lee	73	66	69	72	E	-8	280	$16,154
T31	Ha Na Jang	69	69	67	75	+3	-8	280	$16,154
T35	Sandra Gal	71	71	67	72	E	-7	281	$14,277
T35	Minjee Lee	69	70	67	75	+3	-7	281	$14,277
T37	Ai Miyazato	69	68	73	72	E	-6	282	$11,880
T37	Catriona Matthew	69	72	70	71	-1	-6	282	$11,880
T37	Mika Miyazato	69	72	70	71	-1	-6	282	$11,880
T37	Hee Young Park	71	69	72	70	-2	-6	282	$11,880
T37	So Yeon Ryu	68	74	71	69	-3	-6	282	$11,880
T37	Jessica Korda	71	72	71	68	-4	-6	282	$11,880
T37	Budsabakorn Sukapan	71	66	69	76	+4	-6	282	$11,880
T44	Megan Khang	72	69	70	72	E	-5	283	$9,499
T44	Jenny Shin	68	70	71	74	+2	-5	283	$9,499
T44	Sakura Yokomine	70	67	72	74	+2	-5	283	$9,499
T44	Su-Hyun Oh	68	73	74	68	-4	-5	283	$9,499
T48	Ssu-Chia Cheng	71	72	68	73	+1	-4	284	$7,906
T48	Jodi Ewart Shadoff	73	70	69	72	E	-4	284	$7,906
T48	Caroline Masson	74	68	70	72	E	-4	284	$7,906
T48	Karine Icher	67	72	73	72	E	-4	284	$7,906
T48	Brittany Lincicome	69	72	66	77	+5	-4	284	$7,906
T48	Haru Nomura	69	72	75	68	-4	-4	284	$7,906
T54	Laetitia Beck	72	69	70	74	+2	-3	285	$6,598
T54	Eun-Hee Ji	69	74	70	72	E	-3	285	$6,598
T54	Vicky Hurst	71	70	72	72	E	-3	285	$6,598
T54	Lee Lopez	69	72	74	70	-2	-3	285	$6,598
T54	Sarah Jane Smith	71	70	74	70	-2	-3	285	$6,598
T59	Madelene Sagstrom	72	70	69	75	+3	-2	286	$5,537
T59	Jaclyn Lee	69	70	73	74	+2	-2	286	–
T59	Pernilla Lindberg	72	71	70	73	+1	-2	286	$5,537
T59	Lizette Salas	70	71	72	73	+1	-2	286	$5,537
T59	P.K. Kongkraphan	73	69	72	72	E	-2	286	$5,537
T59	Briana Mao	69	74	71	72	E	-2	286	$5,537
T59	Anne-Catherine Tanguay	70	73	74	69	-3	-2	286	$5,537
T66	Pannarat Thanapolboonyar	70	72	71	74	+2	-1	287	$4,948
T66	Dori Carter	70	69	75	73	+1	-1	287	$4,948
T66	Celine Herbin	74	69	73	71	-1	-1	287	$4,948
T66	Brittany Lang	70	73	76	68	-4	-1	287	$4,948
T70	Benyapa Niphatsophon	71	72	71	75	+3	+1	289	$4,608
T70	Michelle Wie	71	72	74	72	E	+1	289	$4,608
T72	Hannah Collier	73	70	71	76	+4	+2	290	$4,465
T72	Caroline Hedwall	72	68	77	73	+1	+2	290	$4,465
74	Stephanie Kono	70	73	74	76	+4	+5	293	$4,379
T75	Brittany Altomare	73	71	MC	MC	–	–	144	–
T75	Cydney Clanton	72	72	MC	MC	–	–	144	–
T75	Charley Hull	71	73	MC	MC	–	–	144	–
T75	Haeji Kang	72	72	MC	MC	–	–	144	–
T75	Kim Kaufman	72	72	MC	MC	–	–	144	–
T75	Rebecca Lee-Bentham	70	74	MC	MC	–	–	144	–
T75	Brittany Marchand	73	71	MC	MC	–	–	144	–
T75	Maria McBride	73	71	MC	MC	–	–	144	–
T75	Becky Morgan	75	69	MC	MC	–	–	144	–
T75	Sadena Parks	72	72	MC	MC	–	–	144	–
T75	Ashleigh Simon	72	72	MC	MC	–	–	144	–
T75	Kelly Tan	72	72	MC	MC	–	–	144	–
T75	Jessica Wallace	70	74	MC	MC	–	–	144	–
T75	Jing Yan	74	70	MC	MC	–	–	144	–
T89	Simin Feng	70	75	MC	MC	–	–	145	–
T89	Wei-Ling Hsu	75	70	MC	MC	–	–	145	–
T89	Tiffany Joh	76	69	MC	MC	–	–	145	–
T89	Moriya Jutanugarn	75	70	MC	MC	–	–	145	–
T89	Amelia Lewis	73	72	MC	MC	–	–	145	–
T89	Xi Yu Lin	71	74	MC	MC	–	–	145	–
T89	Giulia Molinaro	74	71	MC	MC	–	–	145	–
T89	Grace Na	71	74	MC	MC	–	–	145	–
T89	Ji Young Oh	71	74	MC	MC	–	–	145	–
T89	Kelly Shon	71	74	MC	MC	–	–	145	–
T89	Jennifer Song	72	73	MC	MC	–	–	145	–
T89	Maddie Szeryk	73	72	MC	MC	–	–	145	–
T89	Mariajo Uribe	73	72	MC	MC	–	–	145	–
T89	Cheyenne Woods	73	72	MC	MC	–	–	145	–
T103	Holly Clyburn	73	73	MC	MC	–	–	146	–
T103	Laura Davies	72	74	MC	MC	–	–	146	–
T103	Lindy Duncan	72	74	MC	MC	–	–	146	–
T103	Julieta Granada	73	73	MC	MC	–	–	146	–
T103	Annie Park	69	77	MC	MC	–	–	146	–
T103	Angela Stanford	71	75	MC	MC	–	–	146	–
T103	Bertine Strauss	75	71	MC	MC	–	–	146	–
T103	Angel Yin	69	77	MC	MC	–	–	146	–
T103	Sun Young Yoo	75	71	MC	MC	–	–	146	–
T112	Q Baek	75	72	MC	MC	–	–	147	–
T112	Christel Boeljon	75	72	MC	MC	–	–	147	–
T112	Jacqui Concolino	72	75	MC	MC	–	–	147	–
T112	Brianna Do	76	71	MC	MC	–	–	147	–
T112	Casey Grice	76	71	MC	MC	–	–	147	–
T112	Felicity Johnson	74	73	MC	MC	–	–	147	–
T112	Sara Maude Juneau	71	76	MC	MC	–	–	147	–
T112	Lorie Kane	73	74	MC	MC	–	–	147	–
T112	Joanna Klatten	73	74	MC	MC	–	–	147	–
T112	Naomi Eun Young Ko	74	73	MC	MC	–	–	147	–
T112	Belen Mozo	72	75	MC	MC	–	–	147	–
T112	Hannah O’Sullivan	72	75	MC	MC	–	–	147	–
T112	Paula Reto	72	75	MC	MC	–	–	147	–
T112	Samantha Richdale	75	72	MC	MC	–	–	147	–
T112	Kris Tamulis	74	73	MC	MC	–	–	147	–
T112	Yani Tseng	76	71	MC	MC	–	–	147	–
T128	Katie Burnett	76	72	MC	MC	–	–	148	–
T128	Na Yeon Choi	75	73	MC	MC	–	–	148	–
T128	Daniela Iacobelli	73	75	MC	MC	–	–	148	–
T128	Sarah Kemp	74	74	MC	MC	–	–	148	–
T128	Min Seo Kwak	76	72	MC	MC	–	–	148	–
T128	Ilhee Lee	72	76	MC	MC	–	–	148	–
T128	Lee-Anne Pace	71	77	MC	MC	–	–	148	–
T128	Marion Ricordeau	74	74	MC	MC	–	–	148	–
T136	Jennifer Ha	72	77	MC	MC	–	–	149	–
T136	Mina Harigae	74	75	MC	MC	–	–	149	–
T136	Katherine Kirk	74	75	MC	MC	–	–	149	–
T136	Gerina Piller	75	74	MC	MC	–	–	149	–
T136	Jane Rah	75	74	MC	MC	–	–	149	–
T136	Alison Walshe	74	75	MC	MC	–	–	149	–
T142	Amy Anderson	76	74	MC	MC	–	–	150	–
T142	Danielle Kang	74	76	MC	MC	–	–	150	–
T142	Jennifer Kirby	73	77	MC	MC	–	–	150	–
T145	Jaye Marie Green	78	73	MC	MC	–	–	151	–
T145	Nannette Hill	76	75	MC	MC	–	–	151	–
T145	Dani Holmqvist	78	73	MC	MC	–	–	151	–
T145	Ashlan Ramsey	73	78	MC	MC	–	–	151	–
T145	Christine Song	74	77	MC	MC	–	–	151	–
150	Demi Runas	80	72	MC	MC	–	–	152	–
T151	Sandra Changkija	78	77	MC	MC	–	–	155	–
T151	Rachel Rohanna	78	77	MC	MC	–	–	155	–
T151	Julie Yang	78	77	MC	MC	–	–	155	–
154	Alejandra Llaneza	75	81	MC	MC	–	–	156	–
155	Brigitte Thibault	87	82	MC	MC	–	–	169	–
156	Christina Kim	77	WD	WD	WD	–	–	77