Ariya says No.1 ranking not top priority

WISCONSIN: Thai golfer Ariya Jutanugarn says she won’t put extra pressure on herself to regain the No.1 world ranking she held for two weeks last month.

“To me, it’s not that important, because of course everybody wants to be world number one,” Ariya said before yesterday’s start of the Thornberry Creek LPGA Classic in Oneida, Wisconsin.

“I think the most important thing right now is just [to] go out and have fun and be happy on the course and make sure I have a really good commitment.”

At No.2 in the world, Ariya is the topranked player in the field for the inaugural edition of the tournament. Her older sister, world No.32 Moriya, is also in the event.

Ariya arrived in Wisconsin after missing her first cut of the season at the Women’s PGA Championship, where her six-over par 77 in the opening round proved too much to overcome.

Ariya said she’d found positives to take from last week, in particular her improvement to a three-under par 68 in the second round.

“I know I had a bad day on Thursday, but I had a really good day on Friday,” she said. “I’m really proud of myself to be trying to do my best and play better golf on Friday and be working on the same things.”

The 21-year-old was hailed as a hero in Thailand after supplanting New Zealand’s Lydia Ko atop the world rankings after winning the Manulife LPGA Classic in a play-off last month.

But her reign was short, as South Korean Ryu So-Yeon took over the top spot two weeks later.

“All the Thai people, they give me great support, even if I play bad or I play good,” she said. “I’m pretty sure they love to see my world ranking be really good, but also, if not, I know they are going to give me full support.”