Thailand’s Ariya Jutanagarn becoming the LPGA’s Player of the Year last week is remarakable in itself, but events three years and nine months ago make it more so.
It was Feb 24, 2013, at the LPGA Honda Thailand tournament at the Siam Country Club Pattaya Old Course. In her very first LPGA tournament as a professional, the 17-year-old Thai was on the brink of pulling off an extraordinary victory. She stood on the final tee with a two-shot lead.
Ariya had gained the support of the huge gallery and because of the massive expectations of the crowd, she had been under unbelievable pressure all day. She knew a bogey would be good enough for victory and even a double bogey would mean a play-off.
She eventually stood there alone on the 18th green, putter in hand after missing a three-foot putt that would have ensured a play-off. There was not a person in the crowd who didn’t feel for her.
The packed gallery, which had been buzzing with enthusiasm only moments before, lapsed into a stunned silence. It was nothing short of heart-breaking. Ariya then walked over to her elder sister Moriya, also an LPGA golfer, and they hugged tearfully on the edge of the green.
In the media centre, hardened journalists who had been cheering Ariya throughout her round, sat in disbelief. The fairy tale ending did not materialise. Twenty minutes later the same journalists gave Ariya a standing ovation as she bravely faced the press.
She felt that she had let the Thai people down, which of course was simply not true.
Shortly after that fateful Thailand tournament, Ariya suffered a severe shoulder injury that kept her out for the best part of a year. There were real concerns that the gifted player would struggle to find form when she returned.
Indeed Ariya missed 10 straight cuts as she failed to find her rhythm. But the potential was always there and this season saw her game begin to blossom.
But it wasn’t all plain-sailing.In March, in the ANA Championship, Ariya let slip a three-shot on the last three holes and was beaten by World No.1 Lydia Ko. Ariya was developing an unwanted reputation as a talented player who just couldn’t make it over the finishing line.
But this all changed in May this year when Ariya finally triumphed in the Yokohama Tire LPGA Classic in Alabama. She had become the first Thai to win an LPGA tournament.
That proved to be the first of three back-to-back wins in May. She followed up that opening win with triumphs in the Kingsmill Championship in Virginia and Michigan’s Volvik Championship.
Ariya then said that her next target was to win a major. And that’s exactly what she did, storming to victory at the British Women’s Open at the end of July. A month later she added the Canadian Pacific Women’s Open , making it five wins in a year. A remarkable achievement.
When Ariya recently was named Player of the Year and also won the Race to CME Globe trophy,along with one million US dollars, that heartbreaking day in 2013 must have seemed light-years away.
She has obviously managed to use that experience to her advantage and the twenty-one year old can look forward to many more victories in the future.
(Source Bangkok Post)