Thai and Chinese pair clinch title at Dow Championship

In a nail-biting finish at Midland Country Club in Midland, Michigan, Thailand's Atthaya Thitikul and Ruoning Yin of the People’s Republic of China clinched the Dow Championship by a single stroke. This victory marks Thitikul’s third LPGA title and underscores her impressive career.

Starting the final round tied for second, the Thai-Chinese duo got off to a blazing start with three consecutive birdies on holes 2, 3, and 4, and added two more on holes 7 and 9. However, their momentum slowed on the back nine, allowing the team Ping-Pals, consisting of Ally Ewing and Jennifer Kupcho, to make a strong comeback.

The competition heated up after the 14th hole, with Kupcho and Ewing achieving back-to-back birdies on holes 14 and 15, while Yin and Atthaya only managed pars. As both teams secured pars on 16 and 17, the championship hinged on the final par-3 18th hole. Atthaya's decisive birdie putt clinched the championship for her team, Jin & Ronic, by one stroke.

 Reflecting on her crucial putt, Atthaya said, ‘I knew it was good when I putted it, but I wasn’t too sure of the line. I couldn’t tell anything.. For example, if you have just a hole, a pitch mark, and then it kicks out. It's golf. I was just like, wow, it's in.’

Ewing and Kupcho needed a birdie on the 18th to force a playoff, but their attempts fell short. Ewing's putt missed just below the hole, sealing the win for Jin & Ronic. This was Kupcho's first top-10 finish at the Dow Championship since her 2022 victory with partner Lizette Salas, and Ewing's first top-10 finish in her third start at the tournament.

‘We got off to a slow start, but we hung in there,’ Ewing commented. ‘It wasn't easy. I think in these tournaments, if you get to hole 18, you have a chance to win the golf tournament or force a playoff. That's all you ask for. It was a fun week with Jen, and it's hopefully something we can do again at the Solheim Cup.’

The Danish pair of Nanna Koerstz Madsen and Nicole Broch Estrup finished tied for third with a bogey-free round featuring seven birdies, earning their first top-10 finishes of the season. Haeji Kang and In Kyung Kim also secured their first top-10 finishes of the season, with Kang marking her third top-10 finish at the Dow Championship.

English Olympians Charley Hull and Georgia Hall finished in the top five, with both shooting 63s in their four-ball rounds. Auston Kim and Grace Kim also finished in the top five, highlighted by Grace's first career ace in the second round. John Shippen Women’s Invitational winners Georgia Oboh and Lakareber Abe tied for eighth with a bogey-free round featuring eight birdies. The youngest duo, Sophie Stevens and Vanessa Borovilos, ended their first LPGA event tied for 29th.

This victory at the Dow Championship not only solidifies Atthaya’s position as a rising star in the LPGA but also sets the stage for her and Yin's promising future in the sport. And the win will boost her confidence before she represents Thailand in the Paris Olympics later this month.

Atthaya’s previous LPGA victories occurred in the 2022 JTBC Classic presented by Barbasol and the 2022 Walmart NW Arkansas Championship. She receives $366,082 ($731,165 split with Yin), bringing her total earnings to $1,110,066 this season and $4,841,827 in her career.