LOS ANGELES (AFP) – Thai teenager Atthaya Thitikul won a playoff over Denmark’s Nanna Koerstz Madsen with a bogey on Sunday’s second extra hole to capture the JTBC Classic for her first LPGA title.
World number 14 Atthaya, an LPGA rookie 19-year-old making only her fifth tour start, fired the low round of the week at eight-under-par 64 at Aviara Golf Club in Carlsbad.
That left her deadlocked with Madsen after 72 holes on 16-under 272 and, after missing a six-foot birdie putt for the win on the first playoff hole, Atthaya took advantage of Madsen going into water and claimed the crown with a bogey on the second.
“I just focus on my game and do the best I can and it has turned out to be (enough),” Atthaya said.
“It means a lot. It means the world to me. I know my parents and coaches back home are watching me now. It’s meaningful to all of us not just me.”
South Korean An Na-rin was third on 273 with Canada’s Maude-Aimee Leblanc, Thailand’s Pajaree Anannarukarn and top-ranked Ko Jin-young of South Korea on 274. England’s Charley Hull was seventh on 276.
