Thitikul keeps her nerve, survives wild finish to win; Saso, Ardina falter
MANILA, Philippines — Jeeno Thitikul saw a two-stroke lead disappear in the space of one disastrous hole, watched her closest pursuer suddenly seize the momentum, then calmly took it back one hole later.
In a remarkable stretch-run duel that repeatedly turned on a single shot, the Thai ace recovered from a wet double bogey on the 16th, watched Ina Yoon squander her chance by driving into the water on No. 17, then slammed the door with a birdie on the last to capture the Lotte Championship at the Hoakalei Country Club in Ewa Beach, Hawaii on Sunday (Monday Manila time).
What had threatened to become a stunning collapse instead became another display of Thitikul’s poise under pressure.
The World No. 2 closed with a four-under 68 for a 21-under 267 total, pulling away to a three-stroke victory over Yoon, who also carded a 68 for 270. Miyu Yamashita fired a 67 to finish third at 271.
The final margin hardly told the story.
For nearly the entire back nine, Thitikul and Yoon engaged in a tense battle of wits and nerve, with neither willing to give the other an opening. Every fairway, approach and putt seemed to carry the weight of the championship, and the momentum changed hands in a flash over the final three holes.
Yoon, backed by Solaire, came out aggressively and immediately put pressure on the leader. She birdied four of her first five holes while Thitikul managed just one birdie over that stretch, drawing level at 18-under and making it clear the Thai would have no comfortable march to the finish.
Thitikul responded like a player determined not to let the challenge dictate the outcome.
She strung together back-to-back birdies from No. 8 to rebuild a two-shot cushion, only for Yoon to answer by holing out for birdie on the ninth and keep the pressure squarely on the leader.
From there, the duel became less about attacking pins and more about managing nerves.
Yoon trimmed the deficit to one with a birdie on the 10th, while Thitikul regained a two-shot advantage with a clutch birdie on the par-3 No. 15. The Thai appeared to have wrestled control back just in time for the decisive stretch.
Then came the 16th.
Thitikul mishit her drive, was forced to negotiate trouble around the green and dumped her third shot into a greenside bunker. She then missed a 16-foot bogey putt, turning what had been a seemingly manageable hole into a double bogey.
Just like that, the two-shot lead was gone.
Yoon had missed her long birdie attempt, but suddenly the dynamic of the championship had changed. The Korean walked toward the 17th tee knowing she had been handed the kind of opening that can decide a tournament — and she carried the confidence and momentum that come with it.
For a moment, it looked as though Thitikul's hard-earned control had slipped away.
Then the momentum swung again.
Yoon pushed her drive on the par-4 17th and watched it bounce and find the water. Thitikul, sensing the opening, did exactly what a champion needs to do in such a moment: she put her drive safely in the fairway and followed with a precise approach that left her an eight-foot birdie putt.
She converted.
In the space of two holes, Thitikul had gone from two ahead, to tied, to two ahead again.
Yoon could not recover, failing to get up and down for par, and the championship was effectively back in Thitikul’s hands.
The par-5 18th then became a coronation rather than a confrontation.
Thitikul finished the job with another birdie, punctuating a wild closing stretch and securing her 11th LPGA Tour victory — and her fourth title of the year.
The three-stroke victory was emphatic on the scoreboard but anything but comfortable on the course. Thitikul had been forced to absorb a gut punch on the 16th, resist the sudden surge from a challenger who appeared poised to take control, and then respond immediately when the opportunity returned.
It was a finish defined less by perfect golf than by the ability to remain composed when the tournament threatened to spin out of control.
Yuka Saso, meanwhile, saw a potential top-10 finish disappear in an error-strewn closing round.
The ICTSI-backed two-time US Women's Open champion had appeared poised for a strong finish after consecutive birdies from No. 5 moved her to 11-under and within striking distance of the leaders.
But the momentum quickly vanished.
After bogeys on Nos. 7 and 8 erased her early gains, Saso double-bogeyed the par-5 11th. She immediately answered with a birdie on the next hole, but could not stop the slide, giving back further strokes on Nos. 14 and 17.
She closed with a 75 and tumbled to joint 43rd at 282.
Saso had entered the final round in joint 18th after rounds of 69, 70 and 68, making the closing 36-39 card particularly frustrating after such a promising first three days.
Over on the Epson Tour in California, Dottie Ardina, also supported by ICTSI, failed to mount a final-round charge and settled for joint 38th at 282 after a 71 in the Epson Tour Championship at Indian Wells Golf Resort.
American Reagan Zibilski saved her best for last, firing a bogey-free nine-under 62 to surge to 269 and snatch the title by one stroke over Malaysia's Mirabel Ting, who finished at 270 after a 66.
Ardina was two-under through 13 holes and appeared headed for a stronger finish, but bogeys on Nos. 14 and 18 stalled her momentum and left her with an even-par 71.
Clariss Guce also struggled in the finale, carding a 76 to finish 67th at 293.
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