Honda LPGA Thailand R4

Honda Thailand 2021 R4
May 06-09
Siam Country Club, Pattaya Old Course, Chonbury, Thailand
$1,600,000
Round 1, Round 2, Round 3

Estimated reading time: 7 minutes

Ariya Jutanugarn made a birthday promise to her mental coaches Pia Nilsson and Lynn Marriott ahead of the final round.

Honda Thailand 2021 R4

“Today is Pia’s birthday, and I talked to them and I’m like, you know, I hit my iron like everywhere. I miss the putt. I mean, I feel like so tough for me. What should I do?” said Jutanugarn. “They’re just like, How about you just go out, have good commitment, and not thinking about the outcome. So can you do that for my birthday present? Okay, I will try harder.”

She started her round five shot behind leader Patty Tavatanakit and made back-to-back birdies on her first three holes closing the front nine with a 30 while hitting every green and fairway.

Honda Thailand 2021 R4

“I want to say honestly (I felt confident) after first hole, because, you know, like the green is pretty narrow 1st hole, and normally I’m going to be struggle to hit it on the green because I not really have good commit,” said Jutanugarn. “I’m thinking about miss the shot, but somehow today I’m not thinking about miss the shot and I hit it so good on the green, two-putt, birdie. And second hole I miss my second shot and make long putt, and third hole I hit it like this close. I’m like, you know what, today is going to be good day because I just have to keep do what I have to do, keep commitment.”

She closed the final round with a 63, her lowest 18-hole score since recording a 62 at the Meijer LPGA Classic, and took the clubhouse lead at 22-under while play was halted due to the weather and the final two groups finished.

Honda Thailand 2021 R4

18-year-old Atthaya Thitikul, playing in the final grouping, needed an eagle to win or a birdie to force a playoff. When play resumed she finally landed her approach to the green, a three-putt on the final hole, meaning Jutanugarn had earned her first victory in 1,507 days.

“On the putting green I wanted to watch how they play so bad. I want to know because I feel like I have to go playoff anyway, but my caddie stop me doing that,” said Jutanugarn. “He’s like, You watch or you not watching them play the result not going to change. How about you just putt and practice? And I’m like, Okay, I do it. So I putt, keep putt, and he walk to me and give me a hug, so like, oh, I win the tournament.”

Honda Thailand 2021 R4

Jutanugarn is the first Thai player to win in her home country on the LPGA Tour.

“It just feels so good, not only for Thai player to win, but I would say I have really tough time last two years. I’m thinking about like, you know, I don’t know how many time I told my psychology, like, you know, what I want to rest, no more. I want to stop for a while. Every time when I look at all the kids and I want them to — give them inspiration. So I feel like you know what, don’t give up. Do your best. Try harder. Keep trying. One day you will get it.”

Thitikul, a five-time Thai LPGA winner, closed with a 68 to finish at 21-under in solo second, her career-best finish on the LPGA Tour.

“You know this is like my new experience having so pretty close with the win (on the LPGA Tour), but I just last putt I just feel like, okay, give me a good one and do my best that I can. And, yeah, you know, like I’m already proud of myself that I am do the best that I can.”

Honda Thailand 2021 R4

54-hole leader Tavatanakit fell out of contention after bogeys on the 6th and 9th wiped out the three birdies she had made on the 3rd, 5th and 7th. A double bogey at the 12th further derailed the major champion, but two closing birdies left her in a tie for third place with So Yeon Ryu, Amy Yang and Angel Yin at 20-under.

“It was worth the trip. It was worth the time. It was worth everything. I’m just really glad I’m played here and played great, too,” said Tavatanakit.

Chella Choi and Hannah Green finished in a tie for seventh at 4-under, with Green notching her third-straight top-three result.

“Shot 4-under today. Wish I could have capitalized on the last hole, but I think with a little bit of a break kind of was hard with the delay,” said Green. “But if you told me that I was going to come in the Top 10 at the start of the week I probably would’ve taken it. Seeing the forecast with the heat and the possible storms, I’m very happy.”

Honda Thailand 2021 R4

Pos.	Player	To Par	Scores	Total
1	Ariya Jutanugarn	-22	65-69-69-63	266
2	Atthaya Thitikul	-21	64-67-68-68	267
T3	So Yeon Ryu	-20	69-70-65-64	268
T3	Amy Yang	-20	69-65-70-64	268
T3	Angel Yin	-20	72-65-65-66	268
T3	Patty Tavatanakit	-20	64-64-70-70	268
T7	Chella Choi	-19	69-68-65-67	269
T7	Hannah Green	-19	66-71-64-68	269
T9	Gaby Lopez	-18	69-64-67-70	270
T9	Caroline Masson	-18	66-66-67-71	270
11	Lydia Ko	-17	66-67-67-71	271
12	In Gee Chun	-16	72-68-65-67	272
T13	Pajaree Anannarukarn	-15	68-72-70-63	273
T13	Danielle Kang	-15	69-67-71-66	273
T13	Carlota Ciganda	-15	67-71-67-68	273
T13	Xiyu Lin	-15	67-72-65-69	273
T17	Celine Boutier	-13	68-70-71-66	275
T17	Emily Kristine Pedersen	-13	72-68-67-68	275
T17	Gerina Piller	-13	68-72-67-68	275
T17	Moriya Jutanugarn	-13	70-70-66-69	275
T17	Nanna Koerstz Madsen	-13	65-68-73-69	275
T17	Ashleigh Buhai	-13	67-69-68-71	275
T23	Yealimi Noh	-12	69-71-69-67	276
T23	Yui Kawamoto	-12	69-72-67-68	276
T23	Ayako Uehara	-12	69-71-66-70	276
T23	Sophia Popov	-12	72-67-65-72	276
T27	Shanshan Feng	-11	71-71-67-68	277
T27	Amy Olson	-11	69-72-67-69	277
T27	Eun-Hee Ji	-11	68-69-71-69	277
T27	Hee Young Park	-11	68-66-74-69	277
T31	Mirim Lee	-10	71-68-71-68	278
T31	Katherine Kirk	-10	73-64-68-73	278
T31	Nasa Hataoka	-10	69-67-69-73	278
T34	Bronte Law	-9	72-71-69-67	279
T34	Charley Hull	-9	71-71-69-68	279
T34	Hinako Shibuno	-9	68-72-70-69	279
T34	Jeongeun Lee6	-9	73-66-68-72	279
T34	Nicole Broch Larsen	-9	67-69-71-72	279
T39	Wei-Ling Hsu	-8	71-70-74-65	280
T39	Jodi Ewart Shadoff	-8	71-70-72-67	280
T41	Megan Khang	-7	73-73-65-70	281
T41	Madelene Sagstrom	-7	69-71-70-71	281
T43	Azahara Munoz	-6	71-73-70-68	282
T43	Muni He	-6	75-71-67-69	282
T43	Annie Park	-6	73-71-69-69	282
T43	Wichanee Meechai	-6	72-71-69-70	282
T43	Jaye Marie Green	-6	71-70-70-71	282
T43	Pornanong Phatlum	-6	70-69-70-73	282
T49	Brittany Lincicome	-5	67-74-72-70	283
T49	Caroline Inglis	-5	74-68-70-71	283
T49	Hyo Joo Kim	-5	73-67-72-71	283
T49	Kristen Gillman	-5	73-69-68-73	283
T49	Cydney Clanton	-5	74-65-69-75	283
T54	Jasmine Suwannapura	-4	76-69-70-69	284
T54	Minjee Lee	-4	71-70-73-70	284
T54	Georgia Hall	-4	72-75-66-71	284
T57	Chanettee Wannasaen	-3	71-78-68-68	285
T57	Anna Nordqvist	-3	75-71-71-68	285
T57	Tiffany Joh	-3	72-73-72-68	285
T57	Sarah Schmelzel	-3	72-71-74-68	285
T57	Sung Hyun Park	-3	73-73-67-72	285
62	Alena Sharp	-2	71-72-71-72	286
T63	In Kyung Kim	-1	72-73-70-72	287
T63	Yu Liu	-1	75-69-70-73	287
T63	Su Oh	-1	72-68-74-73	287
66	Brittany Altomare	+1	67-76-71-75	289
67	Cheyenne Knight	+2	77-72-68-73	290
68	Jing Yan	+3	76-71-74-70	291
T69	Jenny Shin	+4	74-74-74-70	292
T69	Mind Muangkhumsakul	+4	73-72-76-71	292
T71	Maria Fernanda Torres	+5	78-73-70-72	293
T71	Mi Hyang Lee	+5	73-73-74-73	293