Page 18 - ARUBA TODAY

A18 SPORTS
Monday 20 noveMber 2017

Jutanugarn rallies to win after Thompson misses 2-foot putt

NAPLES, Fla. (AP) — Lexi Pernilla Lindberg had rea-
Thompson never had a son to believe she needed
putt so short that was po- birdie from long range on
tentially worth so much. the 18th to have a chance.
She had a one-shot lead She ran that 7 feet by the
when she settled over a hole and three-putted for a
2-foot par putt on the final bogey and a 68.
hole Sunday at the CME She wound up finishing two
Group Tour Championship. shots behind, along with
A victory would be worth Eun-Hee Ji (67).
$500,000 in prize money Michelle Wie, trying to win
and $1 million in a bonus. for the first time since the
She would win LPGA player U.S. Women’s Open in 2014,
of the year and the Vare had a share of the lead un-
Trophy for the lowest scor- til she hit near the edge of a
ing average. bunker and made double
She would rise to No. 1 in bogey on No. 9, and then
the world. dropped two more shots
She missed. on the back nine.
Moments later, Ariya Ju- Even with seven birdies, Wie
tanugarn capped off her still only managed a 70. She
birdie-birdie finish with an tied for sixth with Park, who
18-foot putt to win the tour- closed with a 69. Park was
nament and deny Thomp- LPGA Tour pro Lexi Thompson is awarded the CME Globe season trophy after the final round of the at 13 under through 35
son three of those perks. CME Group Tour Championship at Tiburón Golf Club, Sunday, Nov. 19, 2017 in Naples, Fla. holes and played 1 over
“I don’t really know what Associated Press the final 37 holes.
happened there,” Thomp- Although she lost the tour- awards. She already had the 18th to 2 feet left of the Ryu was coping with a
son said. “It just happens. I nament, Thompson still won won rookie of the year. She cup. shoulder injury and was
guess it’s golf. the CME Race to the Globe had to settle for a tie for Jutanugarn made bird- happy to squeeze in 72
I guess we all go through and the $1 million bonus, player of the year, and her ie. Thompson missed her holes. She wound up a
situations we don’t like along with the Vare Trophy. 75 in the third round dam- par putt, and there was a part-winner of LPGA player
sometimes.” Thompson had to win the aged her chances of win- three-way tie for the lead of the year.
Thompson has gone tournament to be player of ning the Vare Trophy. at 14 under that included Thompson was on the put-
through her share of them the year. What stood out on another Jessica Korda, who was ting green when she heard
this year. Unlike the others, Instead, the points-based sunny afternoon was the playing with Thompson and the cheer for Jutanugarn’s
this one came with a $1 mil- LPGA player of the year sterling performance of Ju- had left her 25-foot birdie final birdie.
lion consolation. was a tie between a pair tanugarn, who won for the attempt well short. It was the second time this
Jutanugarn birdied four of of major champions from second time this year. Thompson and Korda each year that Thompson ap-
his last six holes for a 5-un- South Korea, So Yeon Ryu Jutanugarn was at 13 un- closed with a 67. peared to be in control and
der 67 and seized on her and LPGA rookie Sung der on the par-5 17th when Jutanugarn hit her ap- was stunned to not win.
good fortune when Thomp- Hyun Park. she hit a hybrid for her sec- proach about 18 feet She had a four-shot lead in
son missed the short putt to It was the first time the ond shot into the bunker above the hole and made the final round of the ANA
win the CME Group Tour award was shared since it and blasted out to about it for winning birdie. She fin- Inspiration when she was
Championship and the began in 1966. 18 feet. ished at 15-under 273. penalized four shots — two
$500,000 first prize. Park, the U.S. Women’s Ahead of her on the 18th “I had no expectation at for incorrectly marking her
A wild end to the LPGA sea- Open champion, was try- green, Thompson was at all,” Jutanugarn said. “I re- golf ball on the green in the
son sent four players home ing to become the first 15 under and lagged a 50- ally did not think about the third round, and two more
with a trophy of some va- rookie since Nancy Lopez foot birdie attempt beau- outcome.” shots because the infrac-
riety. in 1978 to sweep the major tifully down the slope on Jutanugarn was part of a tion wasn’t discovered by
four-way tie for the lead a viewer until the next day,
going into the final round, and so she signed an incor-
and the CME Group Tour rect scorecard in the third
Championship was up for round.
grabs most of the day until She wound up losing to Ryu
Thompson seemingly seized in a playoff, though Thomp-
control with 32 on the front son said this week it made
nine, a 10-foot birdie on her a stronger person.
the 13th and then a superb “I continue to work hard
pitch from left of the 17th in my off weeks,” she said.
budgetaruba@setarnet.aw green that set up a 3-foot “I didn’t stop me, and this
birdie. won’t either.”q