LAS VEGAS: Ariya Jutanugarn of Thailand defeated Nelly Korda 1 up to win Group 1 and eliminate the World No. 1 from the T-Mobile Match Play on Friday in North Las Vegas, Nevada
Jutanugarn went 3-0-0 in the group, but entering the day the group was up for grabs between her and Korda, who tallied 1 1/2 points through the first two days of competition.
“It’s pretty tough today because of the wind. And it’s match play. You kind of have to be really patient,” Jutanugarn said. “I have some (ups and downs). I’ve been missing some shots and hit some pretty good. Overall, it’s just like so much fun to have chance to play with Nelly. She’s one of the best players.”
Other than one brief hole on which Jutanugarn moved 2 up, the score of the match stayed within a hole throughout. Jutanugarn led for most of the front nine before Korda tied it with a birdie at the par-5 ninth hole at Shadow Creek Golf Course.
Korda moved 1 up when Jutanugarn bogeyed the par-3 13th, but Korda took a bogey on the par-4 No. 15 to let Jutanugarn win the hole and tie it back up. Jutanugarn’s birdie put at the par-5 16th gave her back the lead for good.
Korda was the defending champion of the event.
The 64-player field was divided into 16 four-player groups competing in three days of round-robin matches. A win earned one point, a tie earned a half-point and a loss was worth zero points. The winner of each group moves on to a 16-player, single-elimination bracket beginning Saturday.
The quarterfinals also will be played on Saturday, with the semifinals and final on Sunday.
Two groups needed playoffs to break ties for first place following the Friday round. In Group 7, Japan’s Mao Saigo upset South Korea’s Haeran Ryu by sinking a birdie on the par-4 playoff hole. Ryu was the highest seed in her group.
In Group 13, Lauren Coughlin beat Lucy Li when Li bogeyed the first hole.
“All three of my matches have been really close, kind of back and forth,” Coughlin said. “I don’t think I’ve ever been more than 1 up all week. I’ve been down 2 at times, but kind of fought back in every one. Took it to 18 every day.
“Yeah, I mean, I rolled — started rolling it really well (Thursday). Made a ton of putts today that kind of kept me in it.”
Eight other players besides Jutanugarn went 3-0-0 in their respective groups: Thailand’s Jeeno Thitikul (Group 2), Sei Young Kim of South Korea (Group 4), Brooke M. Henderson of Canada (Group 8), Sweden’s Maja Stark (Group 9), France’s Celine Boutier (Group 11) and A Lim Kim of South Korea (Group 12), Sweden’s Madelene Sagstrom (Group 14) and Narin An of South Korea (Group 16).
In Group 3, Carlota Ciganda of Spain defeated New Zealand’s Lydia Ko 2 up to win the group at 2-1-0 and push Ko to a surprising last-place finish (1-2-0). South Africa’s Ashleigh Buhai beat Alexa Pano 4 and 3 to capture first in Group 6 (2-0-1). Russia’s Nataliya Guseva beat Switzerland’s Albane Valenzuela 1 up to win Group 15 (2-0-1).
Also advancing were Australia’s Stephanie Kyriacou (Group 5) and Angel Yin (Group 10).
