Anannarukarn awaits Furue to win LPGA Match Play at Shadow Creek | LPGA

NORTH LAS VEGAS, Nev. (AP) — Thailand’s Pajaree Anannarukarn capped the longest week on the LPGA Tour with a 3-and-1 win on Sunday to win the Bank of Hope LPGA Match Play over Japan’s Ayaka Furue.

Anannarukarn, who defeated Sweden’s Linn Grant in the semifinals Sunday morning at Shadow Creek, took the lead for good with a birdie on the par-5 seventh hole.

The Thai kept up the pressure on a hot day north of Las Vegas, with both players carrying umbrellas under clear blue skies to shield the sun. But just when it looked like fatigue was setting in after playing seven games in five days, they made some of their best shots.

Furue simply couldn’t catch up, finishing second for the year in a row.

“Match Play takes a lot of energy throughout the week,” Anannarukarn said. “I’m really immersed in it right now. It’s been a great week and I’m grateful for everything.”

The match ended on the par-3 17th when Anannarukarn drilled his tee shot into the right pin about 6 feet to the right of the hole and Furue found the back bunker. Furue’s bunker shot hit the left side of the hole — if it hit the pin, it might have dropped — and rolled about 12 feet. He conceded the match.

Anannarukarn won for the second time on the LPGA Tour and first since the ISPS Handa World Invitational in Northern Ireland in 2021, a tournament sanctioned along with the Ladies European Tour.

Two days ago it looked like he might be out. Anannarukarn lost on the 18th hole to Australia’s Karis Davidson, forcing a sudden-death playoff. Anannarukarn hit a tee shot that sank deep in the first cut. He hit perhaps his most important shot of the week and chipped it to the green to win by par.

In the knockout stage, she defeated Solheim Cup guard Carlota Ciganda and then USA’s Cheyenne Knight in the quarterfinals. He made eight birdies against Grant in the semifinals, which was great golf given the fast and firm conditions at Shadow Creek.

Furue defeated Ireland’s Leona Maguire, another star from the last Solheim Cup, in the semifinals and grabbed an early lead against the Thai in the championship match until the first of several errors by both players.

But the temperature rose and the wind picked up. Anannarukarn and Furue each made just one birdie through 11 holes, with the Thai missing short birdie putts at the eighth and ninth holes that could have extended his lead.

“The wind picked up a lot. I think I used all my birdies,” Anannarukarn said. “I tried really hard. I missed a couple of putts, I chipped one in the bunker. That’s golf and I really tried. I’m glad I was able to play well enough.

The final kick was special.

Anannarukarn won the 12th with a short birdie to go up 2, but Furue responded with a long iron to 2 feet for a birdie on the 13th.

Back on the 14th, the Thai used firm ground to his advantage on the right back lane. The ball bounded across the green to the edge of the green and then trickled back the other way with a slope of 2 feet for a missed birdie to regain his 2-up margin.

They halved the 15th with a bogey, the 16th with a par, and then Anannarukarn ousted him with a win on the 17th.

Anannarukarn is the first Thai winner on the LPGA Tour this season, a country so strong it won the International Crown two weeks ago without Anannarukarn in a four-man squad.