Kingsmill Championship Presented by JTBC News & Notes

Ariya Jutanugarn shot a final-round 67 to claim her second consecutive LPGA Tour victory at the Kingsmill Championship Presented by JTBC. Jutanugarn shot all four rounds in the 60s at the River Course at Kingsmill Resort and finished at 14-under par and one shot clear of rookie Su Oh of Australia. American Gerina Piller and Sei Young Kim of South Korea finished tied for third at 12-under par.

Jutanugarn won her first career title at the Tour’s last stop at the Yokohama Tire LPGA Classic when she became the first Thai player to win on Tour. This week, the 20-year old from Bangkok became the second player this season to win back-to-back events, joining world No. 1 Lydia Ko (Kia Classic & ANA Inspiration).

She said closing out win No. 2 turned out to be a lot easier than trying to get her first.

“Yeah, a lot easier,” said Jutanugarn. “I didn’t get nervous. I didn’t get excited until the last putt. My hands were shaking, but it’s just a little bit, not like last tournament. Last tournament was so bad.”

Jutanugarn bogeyed the par 3 second hole but birdied four of her next seven holes to make the turn at 13-under par.

She received some pressure on the back nine from Gerina Piller and Su Oh after going five consecutive holes without a birdie. But a birdie on the par 5 15th hole gave her a two-shot lead with three holes to play. She said she was aware of what the other players were doing but it didn’t faze her.

“I didn’t feel pressure,” said Jutanugarn. “Today I just feel like whatever it is is fine because I just really want to have fun.

I’m not really care -- actually I know they play good, but I’m not really care about them. I really worry about like what I want to do more.”

Oh sank a long birdie putt from the fringe on the 18th to get to 13-under and within one shot of the lead. Oh’s runner-up finish is the best of her career and first top 10 in her rookie season. She gave herself an early birthday present as she turns 20 years old tomorrow.

“You can always be a little more pleased, but yeah, I’m very happy with how it went today,” said Oh. “I got off to a really good start, which was nice, and just kept it going until the end.”

Jutanugarn walked to the 18th tee needing a par to close out the win and didn’t make things easy on herself. After a great tee shot, she landed her approach on the far right fringe, setting her up for a difficult third shot with the pin position in the far left location. She hit her chip shot to six feet and confidentially made her par putt for the win.

“I mean, last win was like breakthrough everything, so after I won one tournament, because I really want to win one tournament this year,” said Jutanugarn. “And after I do that, I just feel like whatever it is, I’m just going to take it and have fun, so that’s the only thing…I expect more wins, but I don’t know about next week.”

Su Oh started her rookie season with low expectations on the number of events she would get in based on her status she earned with her T32 finish at the Final Qualifying Tournament in December. But a T14 at the ISPS Handa Women’s Australian Open and T47 at the LOTTE Championship, Oh was moved up the priority list in the first reshuffle, gaining entry into the Tour’s next three events on the schedule.

In addition to gaining more playing opportunities, Oh’s focus has been trying to earn a spot on the Australian UL International Crown Team.

“Yeah, the KPMG, that’s when the cutoff is, but then that’s the cutoff for the next reshuffle, so there’s this week, next week, and then there’s ShopRite and KPMG,” said Oh. “At the start of the year, I was like, I’ll probably get in two or three events, but now I’m trying to see what to do just going off my ranking. But International Crown, I really want to play it.”

Oh moved into the fourth and final spot on the current roster joining Minjee Lee, Karrie Webb and Rebecca Artis.

“Yeah, we talk, and yeah, I was speaking to Karrie, and she’s already huge about it, and I just want to play a teams event with her before -- I don’t know when she’ll retire, but it would be pretty cool to play with her,” said Oh. “It’s on my list.”

There will be another reshuffle of the priority list after the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship which also happens to be the cut off for the player rosters for Crown. Don’t doubt for a second Oh has that date circled on her calendar. If Oh ranks in the top 80 on the money list after KPMG, she would move from Category 15 to Category 8. Oh started this week ranked 81st on the money list, but with her runner-up finish and $119,198 check this week, she’s projected to move to No. 32. Oh said her confidence is now soaring heading into the busy summer schedule.

“Yeah, a lot of confidence. Like I said, I had conditional, just if I can -- so that’s why I keep having to do like one day at a time because I can’t look ahead. Like I booked my flights next week like two days ago, so I just can’t book anything in advance. But in a good way, then, I can only look at the next day or just this week, and I just have to play well and the opportunities that I get.

Thanks in part to the support of some special ladies this week, World No. 3 Lexi Thompson finished in a tie for fifth this week at the Kingsmill Championship Presented by JTBC. Thompson used a 5-under 66 in the final round to finish just four shots back of winner Ariya Jutanugarn (-14).

“I can’t complain with 10-under. I played really well,” Thompson said after the tournament. “There’s still some things in my game -- I felt like my swing was a little off this week, just a little out of control, but I worked with it and just tried to stick with it this week.”

The LPGA fan favorite has some special fans this week in Williamsburg. Lexi calls them her “Virginia Grannies” and they have been there since she turned professional in 2012.

“It’s a great group of ladies,” Thompson said. “They’ve followed me around for years now, ever since I turned professional, and I’ve gotten to know them really well, go out to dinner with them, and they’re just amazing supporters and just people in general. I’m just lucky enough to have fans like that.”