Thai rookie sensation Atthaya Thitikul claims first LPGA title in playoff at JTBC Classic

Nanna Koerstz Madsen picked the absolute worst time to record her first three-putt of the week at the JTBC Classic.

Needing to two-putt the 72nd hole to collect her second consecutive title, the Dane pushed her par putt and fell into a tie with 19-year-old rookie Atthaya Thitikul, who had finished play an hour earlier.

As Koerstz Madsen put the finishing touches on a 2-under 70, Thitikul stretched and worked on her short game a bit but never went to the range as she kept tabs on the scoreboard. The Thai phenom closed with an 8-under 64, the round of the week, Sunday at Aviara Golf Club to finish knotted with Koerstz Madsen at 16-under 272 for the tournament.

Only three players have ever won their first two events on the LPGA in consecutive starts. Koerstz Madsen looked to become the fourth, joining Trish Johnson (1993), Emilee Klein (1996) and Ariya Jutanugarn (2016).

Thitikul, No. 14 in the Rolex Rankings, has four wins on the Ladies European Tour, making history when she won the first at age 14. The LPGA rookie looked to win for the first time in just her fifth start in 2022.

Ultimately, youth prevailed, with Thitikul claiming her first LPGA title with bogey on the second playoff hole after Koerstz Madsen’s approach met a watery end.

“It means to the world to me,” said a champagne-soaked Thitikul,

The first of many I’m sure for Atthaya Thitikul. Wins in the fifth start of her rookie year. ⭐️ pic.twitter.com/LvNiC8cUyd

— Beth Ann Nichols (@GolfweekNichols) March 28, 2022

On the first playoff hole, both players had 156 yards left into the difficult 18th. They told each other that it didn’t matter who went first. Koerstz Madsen eventually gave the nod to Thitikul to go ahead, and Thitikul proceeded to nearly dunk her approach for eagle.

Koerstz Madsen couldn’t match the effort, missing the green left. She did, however, nestle her third shot close, and after Thitikul failed to convert for birdie, the pair moved on to a second playoff hole after matching pars.

The second time around, Koerstz Madsen’s tee shot hit the cart path and she hit her hybrid from 216 yards with her right foot still on the concrete. Her approach shot leaked right into the water, opening the door for the rookie to make her mark.

Thitikul needed only to three-putt for bogey to collet her first LPGA victory.

Earlier this month, Koerstz Madsen, whose fiancé Nicki Hansen caddies for her on tour, won the Honda LPGA Thailand in a playoff with an eagle on the final hole.

Last year at the AIG Women’s British Open, Koerstz Madsen came into the 72nd hole tied with Anna Nordqvist but suffered a heart-breaking double-bogey on the taxing 18th that included a shocking shank from a green-side bunker.

That now seems a distant memory.

“I do think before I was chasing a lot the birdies,” said Koerstz Madsen. “I have changed my game plan a little bit the way I hit into the greens. Nicki is in charge of that actually. I just hit the shot. He tells me exactly where I should hit the ball. Just the mentality of not being too aggressive, going after everything, and it’s okay to have a 7-meter putt. Sometimes that’s good enough. And then you go for the pin wherever you can, obviously.

“The British Open was really a good experience for me. I think after the British Open I really wanted to put myself in that position again, so I worked very hard to get there again.”