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MIDLAND, Mich. — Atthaya “Jeeno” Thitikul of Thailand made a 12-foot birdie putt on the ultimate gap as she and Ruoning Yin of China gained the Dow Championship on Sunday by closing with an 8-under 62 within the fourballs format.
Thitikul and and Yin, good pals who every briefly have been No. 1 on the earth rating, gave themselves a crew nickname of “Jin and Ronic” and had each cause to rejoice.
They led by two on the again 9 over Ally Ewing and Jennifer Kupcho till Ewing almost single-handedly rallied to tie for the lead. She birdied the 14th and fifteenth holes at Midland Nation Membership and hit a troublesome chip to avoid wasting par on the sixteenth to remain tied.
Thitikul and Ruoning performed within the group forward, and Thitikul hit a tee shot on the par-3 18th over water to 12 ft behind the cup. Her birdie putt was true all the way in which, and so they have been all smiles as they headed to the clubhouse to see if it will maintain up.
“I used to be so nervous,” Thitikul stated. “I knew this putt was for each of us. I wished to make it so unhealthy.”
The important thing to fourballs is to have two seems to be at birdies on each gap, and Ewing was having to hold the load down the stretch. Kupcho began misfiring off the tee and along with her irons, and she or he was scrambling for par. Ewing saved them within the recreation along with her regular play.
Understanding they wanted birdie on the ultimate gap, Kupcho made a shot that got here up brief and rolled again, spared from going into the water by a thick patch of tough. Nevertheless it gave her a troublesome chip up a slope to the inexperienced, and she or he left it some 15 ft brief.
Ewing had about 25 ft beneath the outlet for a birdie likelihood to pressure a playoff, nevertheless it was on the low aspect of the cup the entire approach and so they needed to accept par and a 64.
“We received off to a sluggish begin, however we hung in there. It wasn’t straightforward,” Ewing stated. “I feel in these tournaments, should you get to gap 18 and you’ve got an opportunity to win the golf event or pressure a playoff, that is all you ask for.”
Ewing and Kupcho have been teammates within the Solheim Cup however by no means companions. That may change for this yr, notably in foursomes.
“It was a enjoyable week with Jen, and it is hopefully one thing we will do once more on the Solheim,” Ewing stated.
Kupcho gained the Dow Championship two years in the past with Lizette Salas as her teammate.
The Dow Championship is the one official crew occasion on the LPGA Tour. Thitikul and Yin every get credit score for his or her third profession LPGA titles, and every gained $366,082. That was sufficient to push Yin over $1 million for the yr along with her first official LPGA win for the reason that KPMG Girls’s PGA Championship final yr.
“We simply had a number of enjoyable,” Yin stated. “We hold one another accountable. For that (profitable) putt, I had a sense she’s going to make it. Simply stroll in.”
Then she regarded over at Thitikul and stated with a smile, “Good job.”
Nanna Koerstz Madsen and Nicole Broch Estrup of Denmark closed with a 63 and tied for third with the South Korea duo of Haeji Kang and In Kyung Kim, who shot a 65.
Lexi Thompson and Brooke Henderson had 14 groups in entrance of them once they began the ultimate spherical and by no means had a severe likelihood. They shot 63 however nonetheless completed six photographs behind in a tie for eighth.
