Moriya Jutanugarn made a huge move on Friday at the T-Mobile Match Play presented by MGM Rewards, coming back from an eight-shot deficit and surviving a four-way playoff to claim the eighth and final spot in the match-play portion of the event at Shadow Creek.
The 29-year-old began the day in a tie for 53rd at 7-over total and immediately started chipping away at her over-par score, rattling off three straight birdies on holes 10, 11 and 12 to get herself back to 4-over overall. She then made four pars before picking up a pair of back-to-back birdies on holes 17 and 18 to turn in 31, now at 2-over for the tournament.
After parring holes one and two, Jutanguarn struck again with a birdie on the par-4 3rd hole to get to 1-over overall, but she dropped a shot coming in on the par-4 6th hole, parring out to post a 5-under 67, the day’s low round, and sit in a tie for eighth with Brooke Henderson, Hae Ran Ryu and Yuka Saso, ultimately sending the foursome to a playoff for the final match-play spot.
The first extra hole saw Jutanugarn make par, a score that was matched by Henderson and Saso but not by Ryu, who was eliminated when she made a bogey. The trio moved on to the second playoff hole, all making pars on No. 11 to tie the hole and then needing another hole to decide who would move on to the quarterfinals. The third playoff hole was where Jutanugarn finally separated herself, making birdie while Henderson and Saso parred and earning a match-play spot in the quarterfinals tomorrow morning, something that she might not have expected after her 79 in the second round.
“I felt like yesterday was a tough day for me, and I don't really hit it well,” said Jutanugarn. “Then I just like woke up this morning, and I just want to do what I've been working on and really commit to the shots. I really felt like it kind of help to stay playing like one shot at a time today.”
After a bit of a slow start to the 2024 LPGA Tour season, Jutanugarn has been rounding into form recently, recording three straight top-25 finishes in her last three tournaments after missing the cut at the LPGA Drive On Championship and finishing T41 at the Honda LPGA Thailand. However, she’s still looking for her first top-10 result on the LPGA Tour since tying for seventh at last year’s LPGA Drive On Championship at Superstition Mountain and will be working to collect her first Tour title since she won the 2021 Dow Championship alongside her sister Ariya in Midland, Mich.
She’s set to face a formidable match-play opponent in Leona Maguire on Saturday morning, a player who has a 7-2-1 Solheim Cup record, but Jutanugarn isn’t planning on making too many adjustments to her game plan in the quarterfinals. She’ll instead let the chips fall where they may when it comes to the weather and conditions at Shadow Creek and then take what the golf course gives her as she works to earn a berth in the semifinals tomorrow afternoon.
“It depends on how the weather is like because the last two days has been very windy,” said Jutanugarn. “I don't think the strategy is going to change. This golf course is very good for the match play, and I feel like it's going to be another day and just try and enjoy it.”
Round of the day at @LPGAMatchPlay comes from @MJutanugarn ☝️
— LPGA (@LPGA) April 6, 2024
AND she played three extra holes in a playoff to advance to the quarterfinal matches! pic.twitter.com/viypnLHiu1
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