Moriya Jutanugarn wins 2024 Portland Classic

With a final-round 66, Moriya Jutanugarn won in dramatic fashion at Columbia Edgewater Country Club and claimed her third win on the LPGA Tour at the 2024 Portland Classic.

“Of course it's very happy, and also, you know, like I think it's been a while I haven't been in contention and also like to handle this situation. Of course it's like nervous and exciting out there,” said Jutanugarn on her win.

“To be honest, like the last two season wasn't feel really good, you know, like to myself and stuff. But keep working on something and I guess just the hard work, it pay off.”

Entering Sunday, Jutanugarn sat in solo sixth place and three shots back of the leader and 2022 Portland Classic champion Andrea Lee. A 12-year LPGA Tour veteran, Jutanugarn is no stranger to sitting close behind the lead, having been within five shots of the lead entering the final round over 30 times in her career on Tour.  

Jutanugarn teed off on Sunday in the third-to-last group alongside first-round leader Polly Mack. The Thai player came out of the gates steady, making pars on the first and second holes before picking up a birdie on the par-4 3rd hole to move to -17. Snagging three more pars on holes four, five and six, she recorded back-to-back birdies on seven and eight to jump to -19.

Watch final round highlights from the Portland Classic

Jutanugarn remained fairly quiet through the turn but went on a tear to climb her way up the leaderboard with birdies on 12, 13 and 14. With the birdie on13, she tied Dewi Weber’s lead at -21 and then took the solo lead with a one-putt birdie on the 14th. A chip-in on the par-4 17th accounted for her 23rd birdie of the tournament and her last birdie of the final round to put her at -23, a lead of three strokes at the time.

Up until the 18th hole, Jutanugarn had picture perfect scorecards each day of the Portland Classic. But, on the final-hole, she missed the fairway and hit her approach shot over the green. Her putt from the fringe stopped too short and she still had about eight feet left to the hole. She missed the par putt and tapped in to record her first and only bogey in 72 holes of the Portland Classic. She fell just short of joining both Jin Young Ko (2019 CPKC Women’s Open) and Inbee Park (2015 HSBC Women’s World Championship) as the only bogey-free winners in 72-hole events on the LPGA Tour in the last 30 years.

With a two-shot lead and two groups behind her still to finish, Jutanugarn surrounded herself with family and friends as she came closer and closer to securing her first victory on the LPGA Tour since she won the 2021 Dow Championship alongside her sister Ariya Jutanugarn, and third victory of her tour career along with her win at the 2018 Fir Hills Seri Pak Championship.

Second consecutive top 10 for rookie Nataliya Guseva

Finishing in a tie for second-place, Narin An, Nataliya Guseva and Angel Yin each made runs up the leaderboard with rounds of 66, 68 and 69, respectively. Four groups ahead of M. Jutanugarn, An made four consecutive birdies on her front nine to boost herself into the conversation at the Portland Classic. She added a birdie on 10 and then, with a six-iron from 170 yards, made a hole-in-one on 16 to reach -21 under and grab a share of the lead at the time. She bogeyed her final hole to drop to -20 and two shots behind Jutanugarn.

An LPGA Tour rookie, Guseva carded five birdies through her first 17 holes to reach -21, one shot behind Jutanugarn at the time, but also bogeyed her last hole to drop a shot coming in. With a tied second finish, Guseva earned her second consecutive top-10 finish and her best finish so far on the LPGA Tour.

Yin started the day two shots behind leader, Lee, and made three birdies on her front nine to reach -20. The 2023 Buick LPGA Shanghai winner made a birdie on 10, a bogey on 11 and finished her final round with seven consecutive pars to earn her best finish of the year in her 11th start on Tour. The American has played sporadically throughout the year due to a lingering ankle injury that she sustained in January.

First-round leader Mack finished tied fifth and claimed her best finish on the LPGA Tour in a non-team event. Second-round leader and Dutchwoman Dewi Weber recorded a final-round 72 with a double bogey on her 15th and a bogey on the 16th to drop to solo eighth. This is also Weber’s best finish on the LPGA Tour in a non-team event. Third-round leader Lee shot a final-round 74 to drop into a tie for ninth-place, but claimed her fifth top-10 finish of the season.

This week the focus is on the women's Olympic golf competition before the LPGA Tour returns to Europe for the ISPS Handa Women's Scottish Open.