Suwannapura wins NW Arkansas title, Buhai fishes sixth

Jasmine Suwannapura of Thailand overcame a historic round from Lucy Li, sinking an eagle putt on the second playoff hole to emerge with a victory on Sunday at the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship in Rogers, Ark.

Jasmine Suwannapura is dialed 🎯

She'll have that for eagle and to take home the trophy 🏆 🦅 pic.twitter.com/vGK0ERWkI2

— LPGA (@LPGA) September 29, 2024

Suwannapura forced a playoff with an eagle on her 72nd hole. Then, after a stalemate on the first playoff hole, she calmly sank an eagle after Li had already come up short on her third shot.

"Everything fell into place, you know, right place, right time," Suwannapura said.

In winning the third LPGA tournament of her career, Suwannapura moved up to a projected 27th in the Race to the CME Globe season-long points competition, clinching her a spot at the 2024 CME Group Tour Championship in November.

Li made history Sunday by matching two LPGA high marks as she belted an 11-under-par 60, matching the low final round for a tournament this year, while she also tied an LPGA record with three eagles in a single round.

"That was crazy," Li said. "60 is the lowest round I've ever shot. With two three-putts, if you told me on the fourth hole I was going to shoot 60, I would've thought you were out of your mind."

Li's long putt to score a 3 on the par-5 18th closed her final round with a remarkable flourish. Her final-round 60 tied Linnea Strom, who shot that number at the Shoprite LPGA Classic in June to win the tournament.

That put Li at 17-under 196, giving the 21-year-old and second-year pro an inside track on her first career win, following two top-10 finishes earlier this season.

But stepping up to 18 down two strokes, Suwannapura sank an eagle of her own – her first of the day – to force the playoff with a 10-under 61.

"I actually slipped on that shot," Suwannapura said about her approach shot.

Her tying putt, from about 4 feet away, was less dramatic. "I'm already lucky enough to be that close for eagle, and I'm like, ‘Well, might as well do it,'" Suwannapura said.

The two replayed the 488-yard 18th hole for the playoff. They both made two-putt birdies on their first time through.

On the second playoff hole, also on 18, Li hit into the rough on her tee shot, setting up a long approach from the edge of the green, which she couldn't make.

That gave Suwannapura her opening. Two strong shots gave her a makeable putt for eagle, which she sank.

Suwannapura, 31, led the field after a first-round 63 but struggled to a 1-over 72 to drop into a tie for 15th on Saturday. She saved her best golf for last, however, grabbing eight birdies to go along with her playoff-forcing eagle.

Suwannapura started Sunday off hot with back-to-back birdies. Her bogey-free round included another birdie on the sixth before she truly caught fire on the back nine. She recorded five birdies over seven holes from Nos. 10-16 before her tying eagle on 18.

Remarkably, given her record round, Li was only sitting at par after six holes, balancing birdies on Nos. 1 and 5 against bogeys on Nos. 2 and 4. Then she caught fire.

After birdieing the par-5 seventh, Li grabbed her first eagle of the day, hitting paydirt in just two shots on the par-4 eighth.

"The eagle I made on 8, that was crazy," Li said. "I hit a low hook around the tree and couldn't see it, but it went in. That pin is just really tough. That literally got my round going."

From there, she added birdies on Nos. 9-11, her second eagle on the par-5 14th and a birdie on 15, setting the stage for her third eagle at 18.

Sei Young Kim of South Korea finished alone in third place at 16 under with a final-round 8-under 63. Kim also pocketed an eagle on 18 to go along with six birdies in finishing a stroke behind the leaders.

Two golfers tied for fourth at 14 under: Japan's Mao Saigo (65) and Thailand's Arpichaya Yubol (66).

South Africa's Ashleigh Buhai had entered the day with the lead after a 4-under 67 on Saturday gave her a one-stroke lead over the Philippines' Dottie Ardina. But those two fell off the pace on Sunday, as Buhai still netted a respectable 2-under 69 to finish sixth at 13 under.

Ardina, meanwhile, suffered through a disastrous round of 75 featuring four bogeys and a double bogey to fall into a tie for 44th at 6 under.