From a seven-shot lead, to a playoff, to the top once again. Ariya @Jutanugarn is the 2018 #USWomensOpen champion! pic.twitter.com/Px2GDZZ9on
— USGA (@USGA) June 3, 2018
Imagine winning a major championship with only one wood in your bag.
That’s what Ariya Jutanugarn did on Sunday at Shoal Creek in Alabama. Overcoming a collapse on the incoming nine that added up to 41, Jutanugarn steadied herself to win the U.S. Women’s Open in a four-hole playoff with Hyo Koo Jim.
That one wood in her bag was a TaylorMade 3-wood.
“Ariya Jutanugarn has made playing without a driver fashionable,” reported Golf Digest. “And as you might expect from someone who has 12 clubs that are irons or wedges in her bag, it was those precision clubs that propelled her to her second major title at the U.S. Women’s Open.”
Her 12 irons and wedges are a mixture of TaylorMade and Titleist models.
Jutanugarn, 22, was cruising in the final round, having built a seven-shot lead with nine holes to play. But the wheels came off at the par-4 10th when she made a triple bogey 7. More bogeys at 12, 17 and 18, plus a late charge by Kim, and a playoff awaited.
“Honestly I tried to smile. I thought if I kept doing that it was going to make me happy. I tried hard to do that,” Jutanugarn said.
“After you have a seven-shot lead and have to go to a playoff, you kind of have no expectation. I got mad a little bit about what happened in my back nine, but I decided I’d just make sure I’d do my best [on]every shot.”
An excellent sand save on the fourth hole of the playoff sealed the victory for Jutanugarn. She is the first player from Thailand to win the U.S. Women’s Open. Her other major title was the Women’s British Open.
Ariya Jutanugarn’s Clubs
(As reported by GolfDigest.com)
Jutanugarn hit 52 of 72 greens in regulation at Shoal Creek, or 72.2 percent, a good clip at a demanding major championship venue.
Here’s a look at her unique set of 14 clubs.
3-Wood: TaylorMade AeroBurner (15 degrees)
Irons: TaylorMade Tour Preferred UDI (2-3); TaylorMade RSi TP UDI (4); Titleist 716 AP2 (5-PW)
Wedges: Titleist Vokey SM7 (50, 56, 60 degrees)
Putter: Odyssey Works Cruiser V-Line
Ball: Titleist Pro V1x
Neil Sagebiel
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