Jutanugarn comfortable at Olympia
Mementos of past winners, golf icons such as Walter Hagen and Jack Nicklaus, adorn the walls of Olympia Fields Country Club’s historic clubhouse. It’s elite company, and among those featured is Ariya Jutanugarn, the No. 2ranked player in the world who will be vying for her second career major starting Thursday at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.
Olympia Fields Country Club hasn’t hosted a professional major on any tour since 2003, when Jim Furyk edged journeyman Stephen Leaney for his only major title. It was in 2011 when Jutanugarn earned glory here, with a hard-fought victory in the U.S. Girls Junior Championship on the club’s South Course.
Six years later, Jutanugarn is ready to pick up where she left off, this time on Olympia Fields’ North Course.
“I have really good memories here,” Jutanugarn, 21, said ahead of the LPGA’s second major. “I feel comfortable coming back.”
Jutanugarn’s overriding memory of that week is of her sister, fellow tour player Moriya. Moriya, 22, was supposed to compete alongside Ariya but suffered a late wrist injury. She spent the week caddying for her sister instead.
“I fought with my sister a lot,” Ariya said. “I wanted to go for the green on a par-5; she don’t want me to go (for the green).”
Ariya turned pro two years after that victory only to disappear from the spotlight. She came into 2016 with one Ladies European Tour win, then promptly set the golf world alight. After closing with three bogeys to lose a one-stroke lead down the stretch in the ANA Inspiration, Jutanugarn racked up five wins between May and August, including her first major in the Ricoh Women’s British Open. It has been a similar story in 2017. She hasn’t missed a cut in her last 40 LPGA tour starts while boasting a win, three runner-ups and five other top-10s in 14 starts this season.
“My game has grown up a lot,” she said. “Everything is different.” Well, almost everything. “I still fight with my sister a lot,” Jutanugarn said, smiling. “Every day we fight about everything.”