Rookie Miranda Wang of China rolled in a birdie on the 17th hole Sunday afternoon to snap a tie with World No. 1 Jeeno Thitikul of Thailand and seize her first LPGA Tour victory with a 20-under-par 268 at the FM Championship in Norton, Mass.
Wang, 26, carded a 2-under 70 in the final round to claim the $615,000 championship check. She trailed Thitikul by one shot when she stepped to the 17th tee, but Thitikul bogeyed the par-4 17th in the group ahead of her.
Wang proceeded to sink a sliding 5-foot birdie putt to reclaim the lead. Then the 2019 Duke graduate tapped in a 2-foot putt for par at No. 18 to become the 23rd champion in as many LPGA events this season. She was feted with a Champagne shower on the 18th green.
“It’s a dream come true,” Wang said. “Winning LPGA has been my dream since actually since Day 1 of my golf, because I started playing golf because when I was eight years old I was watching LPGA tournament on TV. I was like ‘Oh, that’s I want to do and I want to be on this tour. I want to win out there.’ So I finally did this. Very proud of myself.”
Wang had to work hard Sunday because Thitikul, who started the day four shots behind, was hot from the start. She birdied the first hole to trigger a 5-under 31 on the front nine as she drilled irons within tap-in range at Nos. 5 and 9.
Thitikul made the turn at 19 under while Wang posted three birdies and one bogey to make the turn at 20 under. Wang then strung together five pars before bogeying No. 15. Meanwhile, Thitikul birdied No. 12 to jump into the lead.
The 22-year-old Thitikul, who overtook Nelly Korda in early August for the world No. 1 spot, kept the lead until bogeying No. 17. She finished with a 67.
“Just take a really positive (lesson from today),” Thitikul said. “Especially the final round that I have, especially the front nine that I have… (My) final round wasn’t that good as the first couple round, but I just prove to myself that today I can go low on the final round as well.”
South Korea’s Sei Young Kim, played in the final pairing with Wang, fashioned a 2-under 70 to finish three shots behind Wang. Andrea Lee also posted a final-round 70 to finish fourth, four shots behind the champion.
South Korea’s Jin Hee Im started the day in a tie for 37th place, but she soared all the way to fifth Sunday on the strength of a record-tying 10-under 62. She birdied nine of the first 12 holes to climb to 14-under, but posted five straight pars before closing with her 10th birdie of the day.
“When I got the first two birdie,” Im said, “I just kidding my caddie, ‘I try just 18 more birdies.’ And I just made straight three birdies after that.”
