Moriya Jutanugarn emerges from tight pack to win Portland Classic for 3rd LPGA Tour title

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PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Moriya Jutanugarn emerged from a tight pack late Sunday afternoon at Columbia Edgewater to win the Portland Classic for her third career LPGA Tour title and first individual victory in more than six years.

Three strokes behind leader Andrea Lee going into the round, Jutanugarn shot a 6-under 66 in mostly calm conditions for a two-stroke victory over three players.

“Kind of been a long time since my last win,” Jutanugarn said. “To be in contention for the last few days, it’s kind of nice. I feel like I haven’t been in contention for a little while. It kind of keep your on toes and exciting.”

Jutanugarn finished at 22-under 266, playing the first 71 holes without a bogey. The 30-year-old Thai player birdied Nos. 13-15 and made an 8-footer to save par on the par-3 16th. She made a short birdie putt on the par-4 17th and closed with a bogey.

“When you make that putt it kind of feels a lot better and like taking a lot of the pressure off,” Jutanugarn said about the par save on 16.

Narin An (66), Nataliya Guseva (68) and Angel Yin (69) tied for second. The 21-year-old Guseva is the first Russian player with an LPGA Tour card.

“I’m, honestly, pretty happy,” Guseva said. “I put a lot of work into that, but at the same time, I’m kind of disappointed because I knew like I could win this thing very easily.”

Jutanugarn’s previous individual LPGA Tour victory came in the 2018 HUGEL-JTBC LA Open. In 2021, she teamed with younger sister Ariya Jutanugarn to win the 2021 Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational.

“So excited and so proud of her, because like I know she been waiting for so long,” said Ariya Jutanugarn, a 12-time LPGA Tour winner who closed with a 65 on Sunday to tie for ninth at 17 under.

Sofia Garcia (68) and So Mi Lee (70) tied for fifth at 19 under, and second-round leader Dewi Weber (72) was another stroke back.

Lee, the 2022 winner for her lone LPGA Tour title, had a 74 to finish in the group at 17 under.

Weber dropped back with a double bogey on the par-4 15th and a bogey on 16. She was trying to win for the first time on the LPGA Tour and send a statement to the Dutch Olympic committee that it made a mistake by declining to send her to Paris.

She qualified for the Olympics under International Golf Federation standards, but was left out because of the Netherlands’ separate standards for all sports to meet a realistic chance of a top-eight finish.

With the Olympics next week, no one from the top 30 in the world ranking was in the field. The lone Olympian in Portland was Aditi Ashok of India. She finished with a 72 to tie for 22nd at 14 under.

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AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf