He went down on the 72nd hole against some late charges. But when the dust settled, Patty Tavatanakit became the second Thai champion to be crowned at the Honda LPGA Thailand on Sunday, winning her first Tour event in 1,057 days. After starting the final round with a three-shot lead, she eventually carded a 5-under 67 to finish at -21, the first time she has recorded all four rounds of an event in the 60s since her first Tour win at the Chevron Championship 2021.
Tavatanakit immediately marked the field, opening with back-to-back birdies on Nos. 1 and 2. After two near misses for birdies on Nos. 3 and 6, Tavatanakit leveled the momentum until the seventh, a hole that was 4 -down the first three days (two birdies, one eagle). She went right off the tee near the cart path, but still made birdie after her third shot landed a few feet short of the pin to take a three-shot lead and -19 at the turn.
On No. 10, Tavatanakit missed the green left into a fairway and chipped it to inches for another birdie to move to -20 and two from the winning score of 2023. After four straight, Tavatanakit nailed the her first bogey since No. 11 on Saturday at the 15th, calling it just a “bad shot.”
“In general, the commitment, the process was what I wanted to do,” said Tavatanakit of the No. 15. “When the ball leaves the face of the club, it was just out of control and I did what you said my control very, very well in this hole.’ The Thailand native said she had nerves on the 16th tee – the pressure of rebounding after a bogey in front of her hometown crowd as momentum in the wind began to shift – but responded with another birdie, her “favourite” of the week . βI was like, you know what? Let’s do it. Whatever it is, bring it. I’m up for the challenge.β
By the time Tavatanakit reached the 18th, Albane Valenzuela had recorded the back-9 of her life two groups back. With a birdie on No. 1 and an eagle on No. 5, Valenzuela had made the round six shots behind Tavatanakit. But the Swiss native turned it around in her final holes as she birdied six of her last eight holes, including two on the 17th and 18th.
βIt’s funny, I felt a little more nervous yesterday. Today I had a sense of inner peace that I could do it. I was just on the gas and tried to go get it. I told my dad, ‘let’s go 20,'” Valenzuela said. “I’m really proud of myself. I just fought really hard and I just see that I can make balls under pressure.”
Valenzuela closed with a 9-under 63 for the lowest round of the week and her new 18-hole mark for her Tour career. She waited in the locker room for a possible playoff as Tawatanakit faced the fairway 5. She had 184 yards to the pin, went for it with her 6-iron and landed just short of the green in the lower bowl. He made the chip to tap-in length, and the rest was history.
“It was a lot of emotions. It was a pleasure. It was — I felt so proud. And a little — I also felt a little tired. But overall, you know, again, I had so much pressure on me today just playing in front of the home crowd and I was able to do it. It was like a dream come true,β Tavatanakit said. “It was like unbelievable. Like I couldn’t believe I was doing this today.”
βI want to be in that position more often and hopefully I can put myself in that position next time. It’s really fun. “I think I’ve never enjoyed playing on a Sunday as much as I did today, just because of how calm I was,” Valenzuela said. βI told my dad, I finally got out of my own way and I really understood a lot about myself today. So really excited to keep that momentum going into the season.β
Sei Young Kim and Hye-Jin Choi tied for third at -18 after both shot 65 and 66, respectively. It’s Kim’s first top-10 finish since tying for third at the 2023 Walmart NW Arkansas Championship and her lowest round since a third-round 65 at the 2023 Maybank Championship. Last year’s runner-up Natthakritta Vongtaveelap and major champion Hyo Joo Kim they came in fifth place -17. Defending champion Lilia Vu rebounded from a first-round 73 to shoot 67-67-65 to close out the tournament in a tie for seventh with Emily Kristine Pedersen (-16) as both earn top finishes them in the Top-10 on Tour this season.
βI think I felt a little bit of pressure from being like oh, it’s your first time defending. But I love this place. I had a really great time with my parents. I went to dinner with some players. I went to dinner with Patty and her parents as well and it was a really fun week,β Vu said. βIt’s more than just golf. It’s also about spending time with people. I just always think there are good vibes here and I think it showed in my golf game. The first day I got a bit of heat shock. My strain was 19 on WHOOP. This is not normal.β
Four players finished tied for ninth at -15, including two-time champion Brooke Henderson and reigning Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year Haeran Ryu. Ryu climbed the leaderboard early with five runs from Nos. 2-6 and shot a 65 for her eighth career Top-10 finish on Tour since 2018.