Ariya Jutanugarn may have collapsed under the pressure one year ago at the ANA Inspiration, but this year there is no doubt that the Thai golfer is the player to beat.
By Becky Gee
Ariya Jutanugarn may have collapsed under the pressure one year ago at the ANA Inspiration, but this year there is no doubt that the Thai golfer is the player to beat.
If ever there’s a player capable of turning a defeat into a victory, it’s Ariya Jutanugarn.
Last year, with just three holes to play at the ANA Inspiration, the first women’s major of the season, the Thai golfer looked to have the tournament sewn up. Three bogeys later, and an 18th hole birdie by then undisputed World No.1 Lydia Ko, left Jutanugarn rueing what might have been.
Back then it would have been hard to envisage the enormous success that the 21-year-old would go on to achieve later in the season.
As she prepares to tee it up this week at Mission Hills Golf Club, Rancho Mirage, Ariya knows that a victory will be enough to secure the top spot in the world rankings, an unlikely feat considering that this time last year she was ranked a lowly 52nd.
What’s more she has the tools to do so.
Following her late collapse at the ANA Inspiration, Ariya would seek the support of Vision54 founder Pia Nilsson, the long-time coach of Annika Sorenstam. The swede soon traced Ariya’s problems back to her tendency to speed up under pressure.
The rest, as they say, is history.
Since then, with the addition of a 2-iron in her bag, arguably the deadliest weapon in the ladies’ game, Ariya has picked up five LPGA victories, become the first Thai player to win a major title at the Ricoh Women’s British Open and topped the LPGA Money List.
That 2-iron is testament to her tremendous power. While most players are spending their time ahead of this week’s major fine tuning their driving game for the long, narrow test posed by the Californian course, Ariya won’t have a driver in her bag at all. Her tendency to swing steeply means she tries to stay clear of the big stick. Why not, when she can comfortably out drive much of the field with her 2-iron alone.
Far from ignoring last year’s collapse, Ariya has embraced it, telling the media yesterday that the failure was instrumental to her latter success.
“I learned a lot from this tournament,” she said, “like I know how to play under pressure. It helped me. This one is one of my favourites. I have really good memory here. I love this tournament. ”
With rival Lydia Ko continuing to struggle with her form, it’s hard to see past Ariya Jutanugarn being the player to make the famed leap into Poppie’s Pond come Sunday.
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