Pajari Anannarukan of Thailand has been crowned the new ‘Match Queen’ of the LPGA Tour.
Anannarukan defeated Ayaka Furue (Japan) by 3 holes in the LPGA Tour Bank of Hope Match Play final held at Shadow Creek Golf Club (par 72) in Las Vegas, USA on the 29th (Korean time) to win the championship. Anannarukan, who won her first LPGA Tour win at the Handa World Invitational in 2021, has risen to the top of her career with two wins in two years.
Until this tournament, not many predicted that Anannarukan would win. He hasn’t finished in the top 10 once this year, with his best finish being a tie for 18th. The world ranking was also pushed to 97th. In this competition in 2021 and last year, it failed to pass the group stage.
Anannarukan finished the group stage with 2 wins and 1 loss in this tournament and barely reached the round of 16 after overtime.안전놀이터
In the final, the match, which had been tight by winning 2 holes each until the 6th hole, leaned towards Anannarukan from the 7th hole. Anannarukan, who took the lead by 1 hole with a birdie on the 7th hole, got a birdie on the 12th hole and ran away by 2 holes. In the 17th hole, he also caught a birdie and put a wedge. With $225,000 in prize money for her win, Anan Narukan also earned an obscure US Women’s Open berth.
On the other hand, Hurue, who made it to the finals last year but lost the championship to Ji Eun-hee, had to be satisfied with second place for the second year in a row. Furue reached the final with a record of 6 victories until the semi-finals, but this time also failed to cross the last hurdle.