A marathon week ended Sunday night at the Bank of Hope LPGA Match Play with Thailand’s Pajaree Anannarukarn emerging as the last woman standing, defeating Japan’s Ayaka Furue in the championship match, 3&1. All told, the 23-year-old competed in seven matches over five days at Shadow Creek in Las Vegas, playing the equivalent of 116 holes.

In grabbing her second career LPGA win, Anannarukarn earned the first-place prize money payout of $225,000 from the tournament’s overall purse of $1.5 million. Here is the prize money payout for each golfer who made it out of pool play into the knockout brackets at Shadow Creek.

Winner
Pajaree Anannarukarn, $225,000
Finalist
Ayaka Furue, $141,906
Semi-finalists
Linn Grant, Leona Maguire, $91,288
Quarter-finalists
Carlota Ciganda, Albane Valenzuela, Celine Boutier, Lindsey Weaver-Wright, $49,723
Round of 16
Alison Lee, Cheyenne Knight, Daniela Darquea, Anna Nordqvist, Maja Stark, Angel Yin, Perrine Delacour, Sophia Schubert, $26,949

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If a golf tournament were ever to be compared to a marathon, the Bank of Hope LPGA Match Play fits the bill. A typical event sees 72 holes in four days, yet finalists Pajaree Anannarukarn and Ayaka Furue each played 116 holes over five days under the scorching Las Vegas desert sun at Shadow Creek. Anannarukarn, 23, survived with a 3&1 win for her second career LPGA victory.

“Just looking back I’m really glad that I didn’t give up and just keep pushing myself and trying to work it back up and trying to, you know, improve on every little thing that I have to,” Anannarukarn said. “It just seems to be working well.”

The Thai native put the match away on the par-3 17th with a tee shot to inside 10 feet. Furue found the bunker and nearly holed out, her ball darting around the back of the cup and spinning out. She conceded the match.

The 2021 ISPS Handa World Invitational Winner nearly didn’t get the chance to play the weekend. Anannarukarn lost her third pool play match to Karis Davidson, 4&3, on Friday, then went straight to a sudden-death playoff against Davidson to advance to Saturday.

Anannarukarn’s par on the first playoff hole got her into the weekend. From there, Anannarukarn bulldozed through Cheyenne Knight (3&2), Carlota Ciganda (3&2), Linn Grant (3&1), and Furue to the winner’s circle.

The week turns around a challenging calendar year for Anannarukarn. The win is her third top 10 since in her past 32 starts dating to last April, and her first of 2023. She missed eight cuts in a nine-event stretch from July through October last year. No. 97 player in the Rolex World Rankings, she continues working on a “number of things”, she said, from her swing to her approach to each shot.

“When I won in Northern Ireland [ISPS Handa World Invitational] I continue playing some great golf until 2022, early of the year, and then started going down,” Anannarukarn said. “I feel like I’m trying to figure out. Golf, sometimes it’s hard to just come back up. And then I just tried every possible way just to improve my game and just keep believing, and I’m lucky that I have everyone around me that helped me and support me along the way just since day one.”

The win qualifies her for the US Women’s Open at Pebble Beach in July.

Furue’s runner-up finish mirrors last year’s result. The only matches the Japanese star lost at each tournament were in the final. The second-place finish marks the 2022 Trust Golf Women’s Scottish Open winner’s fourth top five of 2023 in nine starts. Furue, who turned 23 on Saturday, never saw the 18th hole at Shadow Creek in her run to the final.

“It was the most difficult play I’ve ever had and the green was really hard and like quick and it was really hard to play well for me,” Furue said.

For Anannarukarn’s title defence next year, she already knows what to improve for 2024. She needs to start running.

“I feel like I need to work on my cardio obviously, just keeping up with that heart rate because it’s been pumping so hard on the second 18.”

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Here is the full standings after the first round:

1 Lydia Ko (NZL) -8
Pajaree Anannarukarn (THA) -8
3 Atthaya Thitikul (THA) -7
Aditi Ashok (IND) IND -7
Jung Min Hong (KOR) -7
6 HeeJeong Lim (KOR) -6
Gaby Lopez (MEX) MEX -6
8 Lilia Vu (USA) -5
Hyo-Joo Kim (KOR) -5
Hae Ran Ryu (KOR) -5
Pauline Roussin (FRA) -5
Celine Boutier (FRA) -5
13 Albane Valenzuela (SUI) -4
Emily Kristine Pedersen (DEN) -4
Nanna Koerstz Madsen (DEN) -4
Nasa Hataoka (JPN) -4
17 Danielle Kang (USA) -3
Agathe Sauzon (FRA) -3
Alice Hewson (ENG) -3
Jinhee Im (KOR) -3
Yun Ji Jeong (KOR) -3
Klara Davidson Spilkova (CZE) -3
Angel Yin (USA) -3
Anne Van Dam (NED) -3
So Mi Lee (KOR) -3
Xi Yu Lin (CHN) -3
Johanna Gustavsson (SWE) -3
Lisa Pettersson (SWE) -3
Cara Gainer (ENG) -3
30 Gemma Dryburgh (SCO) -2
Jeong Mee Hwang (KOR) -2
Matilda Castren (FIN) -2
Lee-Anne Pace (RSA) -2
Georgia Hall (ENG) -2
Annie Park (USA) -2
Ryann O’Toole (USA) -2
In Gee Chun (KOR) -2
Alexa Pano (USA) -2
Liz Young (ENG) -2
40 Alison Lee (USA) -1
Charley Hull (ENG) -1
Chiara Noja (GER) -1
Morgane Metraux (SUI) -1
Manon De Roey (BEL) -1
Caroline Hedwall (SWE) -1
Ursula Wikstrom (FIN) IN -1
A Lim Kim (KOR) -1
Leona Maguire (IRL) -1
Jennifer Chang (USA) -1
Ashleigh Buhai (RSA) -1
Maria Fassi (MEX)  -1
Sophie Witt (GER) -1
Tiia Koivisto (FIN) IN -1
54 Linn Grant (SWE) Par
Nicole Broch Estrup (DEN) Par
Yujin Sung (KOR) Par
Annabel Dimmock (ENG) Par
Muni He (CHN) Par
Casandra Alexander (RSA) Par
Carmen Alonso (ESP) Par
Andrea Lee (USA) Par
Lexi Thompson (USA) Par
Carlota Ciganda (ESP) Par
Nicole Garcia (RSA) Par
Aline Krauter (GER) Par
Ayean Cho (KOR) Par 17
67 Eun-Hee Ji (KOR) +1
Yuka Saso (JPN) +1
Olivia Cowan (GER) +1
Emma Grechi (FRA) +1
Jana Melichova (CZE) +1
Esther Henseleit (GER) +1
Cheyenne Knight (USA) +1
Becky Brewerton (WAL) +1
Gabriella Cowley (ENG) +1
76 Paula Reto (RSA) +2
Hannah Green (AUS) +2
Jeongeun Lee6 (KOR) +2
Maha Haddioui (MAR) +2
Virginia Elena Carta (ITA) +2
Laura Beveridge (SCO) +2
Meghan MacLaren (ENG) +2
Jenny Shin (KOR) +2
Stephanie Kyriacou (AUS) +2
Pornanong Phatlum (THA) +2
86 Yu Liu (CHN) +3
Bronte Law (ENG) +3
Kim Metraux (SUI) +3
Whitney Hillier (AUS) AUS +3
Marianne Skarpnord (NOR) +3
Lauren Coughlin (USA) +3
Anna Nordqvist (SWE) +3
Brittany Altomare (USA) +3
Leonie Harm (GER) +3
Wichanee Meechai (THA) +3
Chloe Williams (WAL) +3
Camilla Lennarth (SWE) +3
Rosie Davies (ENG) +3
Jessica Karlsson (SWE) +3
100 Gabriela Ruffels (AUS) +4
Felicity Johnson (ENG) +4
Hannah Burke (ENG) +4
Patricia Sanz Barrio (ESP) +4
Michele Thomson (SCO) +4
Anne-Charlotte Mora (FRA) +4
Eleanor Givens (ENG) +4
Ana Pelaez Trivino (ESP) +4
108 Stephanie Meadow (NIR) +5
Linnea Strom (SWE) +5
Pia Babnik (SLO) SLO +5
Lydia Hall (WAL) WAL +5
Marta Sanz Barrio (ESP) +5
Elin Arvidsson (SWE) +5
114 Magdalena Simmermacher (ARG) +6
115 Minsong Ha (KOR) +7
Ines Laklalech (MAR) MAR +7
Ga Eun Song (KOR) +7
118 Trish Johnson (ENG) +8
Sarah Schober (AUT) +8
120 Cloe Frankish (ENG) +9

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By Kent Paisley
A decade before her first LPGA Tour victory at the ISPS Handa World Invitational on Sunday, Pajaree Anannarukarn had a conversation with her dad about how she was marking her golf balls. Her creative 12-year-old self drew so many pictures on the ball, she could hardly see its white cover when it sat in the rough. They agreed she should stick to one phrase to mark her ball, “Good Luck,” which is how she marks her ball to this day.

So maybe it was no coincidence that her first career LPGA victory came in Northern Ireland with perhaps a little luck of the Irish to defeat Emma Talley in a two-hole playoff after each concluded 72 holes in 16-under 275 at Galgorm Castle Golf Club. The afternoon ended with Anannarukarn’s father hoisting her up in celebration, gleefully spinning around on the 18th green as friends sprayed them with water.

“[My dad has] always been by my side along the way from the very beginning of my career,” Anannarukarn said. “And just to be able to share it with him was very, very special.”

Anannarukarn admitted there was some luck to how she recovered from a slip-up at the par-4 sixth. Tied for the lead entering the hole, she had to take relief from an awkward stance next to a tree in the scruff following a wayward tee shot. She wound up posting a triple bogey to fall behind by two.

Rather than lamenting the triple, Anannarukarn somehow let go of the jarring moment as soon as she walked to the seventh tee.

“I just forgot,” Anannarukarn said. “I just kind of just stood up and told myself to keep trying, just do the best I can.”

Anannarukarn recomposed herself, playing the final 12 holes at three-under. She trailed Kupcho by a stroke with three to play, but Kupcho opened the door with bogeys on two of her final three holes, the final one a shot into the water at the par-5 18th hole with her third shot from the left rough. The 2019 Augusta National Women’s Amateur champion missed out on the playoff by a stroke in her bid for a first LPGA victory.

“I choked at nationals one year and then the next year came back and won,” Kupcho said, “So I think it’s just all part of building and learning from every experience.”

It turned into match-play mode from there between Talley and Anannarukarn. On her 72nd hole, Anannarukarn ran her birdie putt eight feet past the cup. But the Thai native and Talley each knocked in their pars, guaranteeing a first-time winner.

After pars at he first playoff hole, Talley hit her drive in the second extra hole into a bunker right of the fairway. Anannarukarn followed on a similar line, but her ball carried the bunker narrowly and settled in the rough.

Talley compounded her error with a second shot into rough and a third careening off the patrons to the right of the green. After Anannarukarn hit the green with her third, Talley’s chip just stopped short of the green. Her 20-foot right-to-left par putt from the fringe missed the cup low left, leaving a tap-in bogey. Anannarukarn, hitting her first putt over the fringe to eight feet, then holed the winning putt.

Anannarukarn credited the consistency of her approach to how she remained seemingly calm under pressure with her putter.

“I just really go back to my routine,” Anannarukarn said, “and try to stay focused and committed to the given line and really trust that I can make those.”

The second-place finish is the best result of Talley’s career. She tried to maintain that perspective before play began Sunday, jotting in her yardage book, ”Thank God for this opportunity and the experience no matter what happens,” on Saturday night.

“That’s how I truly feel,” Talley said afterward.

Anannarukarn’s victory makes her the fifth first-time winner on the LPGA Tour in 2021. She is also the fourth Thai player to win this year, joining Patty Tavatanakit at the ANA Inspiration, Ariya Jutanugarn at the Honda LPGA Thailand and Moriya and Ariya Jutanugarn partnering for a victory at the DOW Great Lakes Bay Invitational. It’s the most individual Thai champions in a single season in LPGA history.

“It’s a great honor to be able to be representing Thailand and also winning out here,” Anannarukarn said. “It’s definitely a dream come true to be able to achieve this.”

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By Kent Paisley
At the ISPS Handa World Invitational in Northern Ireland, the three-way tie for the lead at 13 under of Pajaree Anannarukarn, Jennifer Kupcho, and Emma Talley sets up a chance for the fifth first-time winner to emerge on the LPGA Tour in 2021.

“It’s going to be a dream come true [if I win tomorrow], obviously,” Anannarukarn said.

The 22-year-old Thai native is playing the best golf of her LPGA career over the last three weeks heading into the final round at Galgorm Castle Golf Club. Anannarukarn teamed up with Aditi Ashok for a career-best T-3 finish at the Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational and closed the Evian Championship last week at T-10. She played alongside winner Minjee Lee in the next-to-last group.

Anannarukarn continued her strong play with a seven-under 66 Saturday, including an eagle and five consecutive birdies on Nos. 9 through 14 to surge into the final group. Anannarukarn applied the patience she said she observed of Lee’s march in France toward her first major championship.

“It’s just when you’re at that point [in contention],” Anannarukarn explained, “In that position, where you’re giving yourself good contention into that, she’s [Lee] really playing really solid and patient, really focused and concentrate on her shot, every shot. I think that’s what I learned because sometimes I wasn’t really fully focused and not really fully committed.”

Kupcho, 24, has the most experience in contention of the trio at the top. Ranked 27th in world, she has finished second three times in her two-year LPGA career, most recently in March at the LPGA Drive On Championship. Kupcho was in the final pairing that week with winner Austin Ernst, but shot 74 and ended up losing by five.

“I think to just stay in it and focus on my own game,” Kupcho, who scored 70 on Saturday, said of how to handle the final round. “Come out with the score that I want to shoot instead of playing against someone else. I can’t control what everyone else is doing, so just go out and play my own game.”

Talley’s strong play this week also came from working on her approach in contention with her sports psychologist, Paul Dewland. They processed how she felt during her T-4 performance at the Volunteers of America Classic in early July. She took a share of the lead after the first round and finished with a career-low 63 to close her best result of 2021.

This week, Talley played the first two rounds at 13 under, holding a three-stroke advantage for the first 36-hole lead of her four-year LPGA career. Playing from the top of the leader board on the weekend was an adjustment for the 27-year-old, who shot even-par 73.

“Today honestly threw me off,” Talley said. “I was also very nervous. I haven’t been in this position in a long time, and the fact that I kind of came back after the double [bogey] on 9, I kind of got mad again and used that energy to make a few birdies in a row.”

Talley made four birdies, including three in a row from Nos. 11 through 13. Even though she lost her three-shot lead, Talley’s father gave her encouraging words after play, “My dad said, ‘Who wants to go in six ahead,’” Tally said. “’You want to come from behind or at least level with everybody.’”

The chasers have been in contention recently as well. Atthaya Thitikul, who lost by a shot to Ariya Jutanugarn at the Honda LPGA Thailand, sits three back at 10 under. Chella Choi, a shot behind the leaders at 12 under, could play spoiler for her second career LPGA victory. It’d be her first title since the 2015 Marathon Classic. The 30-year-old succinctly put the goal of all of the frontrunners on their opportunity for a breakthrough LPGA victory.

“Win,” Choi explained. “I really want to make a lot of great shots and make putts and try to enjoy it tomorrow.”

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