Moriya Jutanugarn plays near-flawless round to win Portland title

 

[August 06, 2024]  Thailand's Moriya Jutanugarn birdied four of her last seven holes to pull away from the field and win the Portland Classic on Sunday in Oregon.

Jutanugarn shot a final-round, 6-under-par 66 at Columbia Edgewater Country Club, with her only bogey of the entire tournament coming at the 72nd hole. At 22-under 266, she finished two clear of Angel Yin (69), Russia's Nataliya Guseva (68) and South Korea's Narin An (66).

An jumped into the lead at 21 under by acing the par-3 16th hole. She followed up the dramatic hole-in-one with only a par and a bogey, setting the clubhouse lead at 20 under before Jutanugarn rolled past her.

"Of course every win is special, and like kind of been a long time since my last win," Jutanugarn said. "You know, like to be in contention for the last few days, it's kind of nice. And, you know, like I feel like I haven't been in contention for a little while."

Jutanugarn, 30, began the day three strokes off the pace before following up her Saturday round of 64 by rocketing up the leaderboard, including three straight birdies at Nos. 12-14. The final of her seven birdies came at the par-4 17th to give her some breathing room.

Jutanugarn knew she had an opportunity to complete the tournament bogey-free, but her par putt at the 18th slid just past the cup.

"I mean, I don't want to say I'm trying (to finish bogey-free)," Jutanugarn said, "but, you know, like when you are in the momentum of like going and everything is kind of being like your way like most of the time, it's nice."

It is Jutanugarn's third LPGA victory and her first time in the winner's circle at a non-team event since 2018.

She also won the 2021 Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational with her sister Ariya Jutanugarn, a 12-time winner on tour. Ariya Jutanugarn shot a 65 on Sunday and wound up in a tie for ninth at 17 under; not long after, she was seen excitedly congratulating her older sister on her victory.

"I would say so excited and so proud of her, because like I know she been waiting for so long," Ariya Jutanugarn said. "Even like we won together at 2021, but she always say like, ‘Oh, I want to win like by myself.' You know, it's good time we won together, but like she go through up and down in her life.

"She been like really struggling and this year is really hard for her. She be like really struggle and this year, this tournament is show like she well deserve because she never give up."

An, who was seeking her first LPGA title, said she could not see her hole-in-one from the 16th tee. She hit her tee shot on a perfect line, and it landed on the front of the green and took a few hops before tracking straight into the hole.

"I heard the sound from the green, like around the green, the spectators," An said. "First time like, ‘Whooo,' and then like ‘Rahhhh,' like this. It was awesome."

Sofia Garcia of Paraguay (68), So Mi Lee of South Korea (69) and Polly Mack of Germany (70) tied for fifth at 19 under. Second-round leader Dewi Weber of the Netherlands shot a 72 and placed eighth at 18 under.

--Field Level Media

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