It took her a while but Ariya Jutanugarn has become the hottest player on the LPGA Tour.
She’s won not one, not two but the last three events on the women’s circuit. She won in Prattville, Al., then at Kingsmill in Williamsburg then last week in Ann Arbor at the Volvik. Back-to-back-to-back.
She’s the first from Thailand to win an LPGA event and this 23-year-old has jumped to 10th in the Rolex World Rankings.
It hasn’t been easy though. At the season’s first major, the ANA Inspiration, she had a two-shot lead with three holes to play. She finished bogey, bogey, bogey and in stepped No. 1 Lydia Ko to snare the title.
“I didn’t know how to play under pressure,” Jutanugarn admitted. “I didn’t know how to control being very nervous.”
“I’ve learned to play under pressure,” she said after picking up her third career win last week.
She will take this week off and head home to Thailand to spend time with her family before she gets ready for the next women’s major, June 6, the women’s PGA at Sahalee.
“I feel great,” she said. “I just really want to rest right now. I’ve played four weeks in a row.”
That’s good news for the rest of the women, no doubt.
