Jasmine Suwannapura gets it done in Arkansas — Ewing calls it a career
The IX: Golf Thursday with Marin Dremock, Oct. 3, 2024
Welcome back to Golf Thursday, golf fans! We’re headed down the home stretch in the 2024 LPGA season. Last week’s Walmart NW Arkansas Championship was a thriller.
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It took not just 72 holes but two playoff holes to decide the winner. Tour veteran Jasmine Suwannapura and 2023 rookie Lucy Li both carded personal bests, finishing at 17-under-par for the tournament. Suwannapura’s eagle on the second playoff hole secured her third career win and her first in five years.
Here’s a rundown of the drama on Sunday, Sept. 29.
Suwannapura’s highlight reel round of 61 got off to a hot start when she sank birdies on the first two holes and then picked up another on the par-3 sixth. A clean opening nine holes, but Suwannapura wanted to go lower.
“I’m like, all right, let’s have a chance, let’s have a look on every single hole if I can. Let’s make it happen,” she told the press after her win.
That attitude helped Suwannapura to a blistering back nine score of 28. Birdies on Nos. 10, 11, 13 and 14 propelled her to 14-under par for the tournament. Then, she drained a long birdie putt on hole 16 to tie Li for the lead at 15-under.
The fierce competitor Li didn’t go down without putting up a fight. She dominated. In fact, some would even say Li had the upper hand playing in the group in front of Suwannapura. Li had control of the leaderboard and didn’t have to chase.
Li started the final round tied for 25th and in the group ahead of the eventual winner. She started her tear with a birdie on the first hole. Then the dreaded three-putt seized Li, leading to bogeys on No. 2 and No. 4.
Those two bogeys were her only ones of the round, though. Clearly, she wasn’t shaken.
Li rounded out her front nine by going birdie, eagle, birdie. That eagle: a hole-out on the par-4 eighth hole. She drew a 5-iron after seeing her drive sneak slightly behind a tree, still in the fairway. “Just suited my eye perfectly,” Li said about her visualization of the shot. “And then I didn’t see it go in, but heard a roar by the green.”
Then, Li’s back nine. A matching 28 to Suwannapura, Li’s score featured a pair of birdies on Nos. 10 and 11, an eagle on No. 14 and another birdie on No. 15. Finally, Li tied the LPGA record for most eagles in a single round with her third of the day on the par-5 18th hole. She sank a 30-footer to take a two-stroke lead, and the crowd erupted.
Li shot an 11-under 60, breaking the 18-hole tournament scoring record in the process. And she did this while still carding two bogeys. (Remember, casual golfers, the beginning of your round says nothing about the end of it.)
Being behind Li’s group, Suwannapura certainly heard that roar on No. 18 after Li dropped that eagle putt. It lit a fire underneath her, and the pressure was on.
“All I think was I just have work to do. I have to do my own work,” Suwannapura reflected. “I have to finish it.”
What better way to finish it than to match Li’s eagle on the 18th hole with her own.
A clutch second shot and a clutch putt to make for Suwannapura. With a clean, bogey-free final round of 10-under, she tied the lead and forced the playoff.
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Suwannapura’s fire stayed lit during the playoff. The pair of golfers traded birdies on the first playoff hole, No. 18, to extend the contest to another playing of that hole. That time around, Suwannapura split the fairway off the tee, giving herself the opportunity to go for the green. Her competitor, Li, faltered, her drive sitting down in the left rough.
Li’s approach to the hole ended up on the fringe, a good 50 feet away. This was Suwannapura’s second:
You can see Suwannapura exuding confidence after her shot in that clip. She knew, right after she hit it, that she loved it. With that eagle putt to win the hole and the tournament, it was now or never.
“I said, you know, you better finish it here or it’s going to be a while and I might not have another chance to putt for the win again,” she said.
Suwannapura finished it for sure, sinking the 15-footer and sealing the win. For her and her caddie and husband, Mike Thomas, it was the first win since they were married. What a moment for Suwannapura and her team.
A gettable par-5 18th hole in tournament play is the perfect stage for a show of insane talent, and we certainly got one this past week in Arkansas.
This week in women’s golf
LPGA News
Nelly Korda, Annika Sorenstam set to compete at 2024 PNC Championship
Suwannapura pulls away from playoff victorious at Walmart NW Arkansas Championship
Epson Tour graduate Lucy Li finishes runner-up in Arkansas after final-round 60
Lexi Thompson reflects on ‘emotional week’ playing for USA for likely last time at Solheim Cup
Caitlin Clark wants to play golf, and the LPGA is on board
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New No. 1 in the Race for the Card standings
Amateur/NCAA News
Gole fulfilled: Aussie claims U.S. Senior Women’s Am
Here are ten women’s college golf freshmen to watch in the 2024–25 season
Five at The IX: Ally Ewing announces her retirement from professional golf
Yet another professional golfer has announced her departure from the Tour at the end of this season. Ally Ewing joins the long list of players set to step away from the sport. In honor of the 31-year-old’s memorable career, here are five awesome Ewing moments.
1. “The second coolest thing to happen to us on May 30”
On May 30, 2021, Ewing won the Bank of Hope LPGA Match-Play Championship to capture her second LPGA Tour victory. This also happened to fall on her one-year wedding anniversary. That quote from her husband Charlie, along with Ally’s great timing, is definitely a top moment.
“I did have thoughts, good thoughts from my win at Drive On on my birthday. I was like, why not have the second win on our anniversary?” Ewing shared with the press after her win.
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2. Her Solheim Cup energy
Although Ewing’s Solheim Cup playing record isn’t historic, the energy she brought to her four years of international competition was unmatched. Joey Davisson on X captured some great moments during this year’s Solheim Cup, including Ewing’s intense energy after sinking a putt.
That attitude has made her a staple for U.S. Solheim Cup teams throughout the years. We’re all so glad she finally got to hoist that crystal trophy.
3. This little Trackman Golf feature at Pebble Beach
The video speaks for itself. A casual 265-yard rip off the tee from a swing as smooth as butter? Accuracy down to the blade of grass? An insane spin rate out of the rough? Just a casual on-course practice session for Ally.
4. Her win at the 2022 Kroger Queen City Championship
Five straight birdies on her back nine to finish with a final round 65 helped Ewing secure her third LPGA Tour victory at the 2022 Kroger Queen City Championship.
“I struggled with nerves all day because I just haven’t been able to put this together for a full tournament this year,” Ewing said. “So, to see it and all the results finally come into place, it’s really exciting.”
A super talented player with a super genuine personality. Her gratitude, her composure and her ability to always hang around the leaderboard will be missed, for sure.
5. Very serious business
This. Just this.
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