Ariya survives rollercoaster round to win US Women?s Open

MIAMI, Florida: Ariya Jutanugarn survived a back-nine meltdown to win the 73rd US Women’s Open on Sunday and claim her second career major title in a playoff.Ariya frittered away a seven-shot lead with nine holes remaining before parring the fourth playoff hole to edge South Korea’s Kim Hyo-joo and become the first player from Thailand to lift the trophy.“I feel great,” Ariya said. “I am really excited. I’m really honoured to join the list of winners before me.”The 22-year-old from Bangkok parred all four playoff holes at the Shoal Creek, Alabama course for her second win of the 2018 LPGA Tour season to go with the Kingsmill Championship.She finished with a one-over par 73 and a 72-hole total of 11-under 277.South Korea’s Kim closed with a five-under 67 to force the playoff and had two long putts to win in the extra session but couldn’t get them to fall.“I started off quite a few strokes behind the leader, so I didn’t really think that I was going to come through,” Kim said.Both parred the third playoff hole and they returned to the par-four 18th, where Ariya’s superb bunker shot left her with a tap in for the win.She had appeared to be headed to victory hours earlier, after a birdie at the ninth hole moved her to 16-under and a seven-stroke lead.Ariya’s collapse began with a triple bogey seven on number 10 and continued with a bogey at 12.She carried the meltdown through with back-to-back bogeys on 17 and 18.She righted the ship in the playoff which went to a sudden death format after the two-hole aggregate start failed to produce a winner. Spain’s Carlota Ciganda shot a three-under 69 to finish alone in third place, four strokes back of Kim and Ariya.American Danielle Kang (69) was four shots back of Ciganda in solo fourth.Thailand’s Patty Tavatanakit, Hsu Wei-Ling, of Taiwan, Sarah Jane Smith of Australia and Lexi Thompson of the US tied for fifth at two-under 286.

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