Ariya Jutanugarn wins LPGA Tour Canadian Pacific Open

Thai golf player Ariya Jutanugarn was regarded as a strong potential winner at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics. When she ended the first round with the highest score, people thought she would take the first Olympic gold medal in 116 years. However, injury on her left knee worsened and the 21-year-old had to discontinue.

Nine days since then, Jutanugarn won her fifth trophy this season at the LPGA Tour Canadian Pacific Open on Monday. At the final round at the Priddis Greens Golf Club in Calgary, she shot seven birdies and one bogey to score six under par and 66 hits, eventually winning with 23 under par and 265 hits at the 72th hole, which was the least number of hits in LPGA history.

She beat the world No. 1 Lydia Ko, who also has five wins this season. Jutanugarn added 337,500 dollars in prize money, surpassing 2 million dollars in prize to record 2.07 million dollars as the second player following Ko whose prize money is 2.32 million dollars.

She wore a black tape around her knee, which had yet to recover, and at the final round she blasted 2-iron and 3-wood off the driving holes, recording a 100 percent fairway success rate. She also shot sophisticated iron shot and greeted 17 times of birdies. Jutanugarn said her tee shot was good during all four days, and iron shot also improved greatly than in the Olympics.

Kim Se-young ended the game at second place falling by four strokes. Jeon In-ji ranked third with 16 under par. Lydia Ko who won silver medal in Rio ranked joint seven due to shaky putting.

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