Although Nelly Korda currently occupies the top spot in the Women’s World Golf Rankings, Ruoning Yin and Atthaya Thitikul looked like the best players on the planet on Sunday.
Yin and Thitikul, both 21, briefly held the World No. 1 moniker last fall but have since given that distinction to Korda. Yet, these two players, who hail from China and Thailand, respectively, carded an 8-under 62 in best ball format to win the Dow Championship by one.
The Dow Championship is not unlike the Zurich Classic of New Orleans on the PGA Tour, which employs a two-man format with two rounds of Alternate Shot and two rounds of Best Ball. Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry won this year’s event at TPC Louisiana, marking McIlroy’s 25th career win on the PGA Tour and Lowry’s third.
Ruoning Yin (left) and Atthaya Thitikul (right) Thailand take a selfie with the trophy after winning the Dow Championship.Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images
Sunday’s win for Yin and Thitikul marked their third career LPGA victory, as they defeated 54-hole leaders Jennifer Kupcho and Ally Ewing by a stroke.
Kupcho and Ewing began Sunday’s final round at 15-under, while Yin and Thitikul sat at 14-under. The Americans went on to shoot a 6-under 64, but it was not enough. Kupcho and Ewing made pars over the final three holes, while Thitikul stuffed one inside of 10 feet on the par-3 18th hole. She then made the birdie putt for her and Yin, which proved to be the difference in the end.
The LPGA will have one week off before the Amundi Evian Championship, the fourth major of the season. France’s Celine Boutier won this title last year at the Evian Resort Golf Club, which sits along Lake Geneva on the French-Swiss border. Surely, Yin and Thitkul will arrive in France for the Amundi Evian Championship as two of the favorites.
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThroughfor more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.
The DP World Tour has officially awarded Marcel Siem as the ‘Comeback King,’ and rightfully so. The 43-year-old Siem underwent hip surgery in February, roughly one year after winning the Hero Indian Open, which marked his first title since 2014.
He subsequently missed three months, returning to the Soudal Open in late May, where he missed the cut. Siem said he felt old that week because of his hip, a far cry from the emotions he felt on the 18th green on Sunday. The German defeated Tom McKibbin of Northern Ireland in a sudden-death playoff, making an 8-footer for birdie on 18 to clinch his sixth career victory on the DP World Tour.
“Holing that putt on 18 was one the coolest moments in golf for me, and doing it again in a playoff was fantastic,” Siem said.
“I love this sport, and these moments, I work really hard for them. When you get rewarded like this, it’s a very special moment. I think it’s the second-oldest trophy in mainland Europe. So I’ve got the French Open and this one now. I’m so proud of that. My journey is just beginning, it feels like.”
Siem looked in control of the tournament after birdieing the par-3 8th, as he went on to card a 3-under 32 on the front to make the turn at 13-under overall.
But the train veered off the tracks for Siem on his second nine. He bogeyed the par-4 11th, thanks to a terrible lie he faced to the right of the green. He then went on to bogey the 14th, 16th, and 17th holes, dropping him to 9-under-par for the championship and in a dire situation.
While Siem faltered down the stretch, McKibbin, who carded a 6-under 65 earlier in the day, waited in the clubhouse at 10-under-par. The 21-year-old from Belfast looked unflappable on Sunday, making six birdies to zero bogies. He posted the lowest round of the day at the Adriatic Golf Club Cervia—located on the Italian coast about 100 miles south of Venice. He waited three hours to see if he would make a playoff, but it was almost good enough for the victory.
Marcel Siem celebrates his Italian Open victory.Photo by Andrew Redington/Getty Images
Meanwhile, Siem, who has a penchant for bouncing back, did just that on the 72nd hole. He holed a 22-footer for birdie to match McKibbin and force a playoff, which he wound up winning.
Now, the German has two goals in his career: to play in the Ryder Cup and make it to the Masters. He has never played at Augusta National before. But if he can secure another victory this year on the DP World Tour and shoot up the season-long rankings, perhaps he will earn his PGA Tour card in December through the top 10 eligibility rankings.
Beginning last year, the top 10 players—not otherwise exempt—in the final DP World Tour standings received invitations to join the PGA Tour. Matthieu Pavon took full advantage of this opportunity—the Frenchman earned his PGA Tour card in December and then won the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines in January, which booked his ticket to Augusta.
Maybe Siem can follow a similar blueprint, but he still has some work to do. His win propelled him 95 places in the Race to Dubai standings, yet he sits in 31st.
Nevertheless, he had already qualified for the Open Championship at Royal Troon, so perhaps the ‘Comeback King’ can make some noise there.
The same mantra applies to McKibbin, who, as a consolation prize, earned a trip to Royal Troon via the Open Qualifying Series. The R&A invited the top two finishers from the Italian Open—not otherwise exempt—to join the field of 156 in Scotland in three weeks. Sean Cocker of the United States received the other invite.
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThroughfor more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.
Akshay Bhatia put together another strong round at Detroit Golf Club to maintain his lead at the Rocket Mortgage Classic. He signed for a bogey-free 5-under 67 to sit at 13-under total.
The two-time PGA Tour winner leads the morning wave by two shots as Taylor Montgomery and Troy Merritt sit at 11-under. Merritt fired off an 8-under 64 to move up 38 spots.
Bhatia did not make as many birdies but kept his scorecard clean for the second straight day. He began his day on the back nine and recorded three birdies. Two more birdies came at the 1st and 7th hole.
One of the wildest moments of the morning came at the par-5 17th when his ball rolled into a drain on the course.
“Never seen it. Rules official’s never seen it, so it was kind of one in a million chance that ball goes in that small hole in that drain, so it was pretty funny,” Bhatia said. “That’s probably the craziest [lost ball].”
Detroit Golf Club and left-handed golfers do generally not mix well, but Bhatia’s game is nearly perfect for this track.
“It’s a ball-striker’s golf course, a lot of wedges,” he said. “That’s my strong suit, especially inside, I would say, 150 yards, so I think that’s why I like this golf course. I don’t think there’s a difference lefty or righty.”
He currently leads the field in strokes gained total at +10.372 and in strokes gained approach to the green, picking up +5.666. The 22-year-old has also only missed three greens in the past two days.
This week will be about who can make the most birdies and avoid costly mistakes. After such a strong round, Bhatia built off that momentum.
“I feel like when you know you’re playing well, then you feel like you can hit all the golf shots that you need to hit to make a good golf score,” Bhatia said. “I think the difference in situations maybe it’s a little harder, but out here, you can easily make five, six, seven birdies.”
So far, he has 11 birdies, one eagle and 24 pars on the week. If the No. 29 ranked golfer avoids disaster and can keep down the pedal, his third career win and second after the Texas Open might be within reach.
With the afternoon groups left to play, Bhatia will have to wait and see if anyone matches his score and who will likely join him for Saturday’s final tee time.
Savannah Leigh Richardson is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. For more golf coverage, follow us @_PlayingThrough on all major social platforms. You can also follow her on Twitter @SportsGirlSL and Instagram @savannah_leigh_sports.
