Former world number ones Atthaya Thitikul of Thailand and Ruoning Yin of China won the Dow Championship by one stroke over Americans Ally Ewing and Jennifer Kupcho at Midland Country Club.
Starting Sunday’s final round four-ball in a tie for second, one shot behind Ewing and Kupcho, Thitikul and Yin got off to a hot start with three straight birdies on Holes 2, 3 and 4. They added two more on seven and nine but slowed down on the back nine, allowing the American team to catch up.
At the par-three 18th hole, Thitikul sank a 10-foot birdie putt for a team score of eight-under-par 62 and set the clubhouse target of 22-under-par 258.
Ewing and Kupcho needed a closing birdie to force a playoff, but both players missed and they settled for outright second place on 21-under-par.
The tournament saw 72 teams of two players compete over four rounds, with the first and third rounds played in foursomes (alternate shot) format and the second and final rounds in four ball (best-ball).
Good pals Thitikul and Yin, both aged 21, paid tribute to one another. “I couldn’t ask for a better partner. You need to make sure that your partner is the one who really is your best friend out there. You need to be comfortable to hit the ball, ” said Thitikul, who picked up her third LPGA title but first since the 2022 Walmart NW Arkansas Championship.
Yin, who will be taking a break until the Paris Olympics in August to rest a wrist injury, noted: “We’re always teasing each other; Jeeno always says, I’m not worried at all if I hit a bad shot because I know you can scramble.
“We did a pretty good job. Having her by my side and winning the tournament, nothing can feel better than that,” added the golfer from Kunming, whose three LPGA titles include the 2023 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.
The Danish duo of Nanna Koerstz Madsen and Nicole Broch Estrup finished tied for third on 19-under-par with the Korean team of Haeji Kang and Kim In Kyung. A stroke further back were England’s Charley Hull and Georgia Hall, and the American-Australian pairing of Auston Kim and Grace Kim.
Malaysia’s Kelly Tan and Finland’s Matilda Castren settled for joint 32nd on nine-under-par, having been runners-up in the two previous editions.
