Meadow finishes in style as Tavatanakit makes her first LPGA win a Major one

Stephanie Meadow’s stunning final round 67 for a total of six-under-par 282 in the ANA Inspiration lifted the 29-year-old Northern Irishwoman up to tied-19th which, apart from a payday of $34,340, also ensured an exemption into next year’s championship.

In recording a career-best finish in the season's opening Major, Meadow also made a significant upward move in the Race to CME Globe points order of merit from 82nd up to 56th position, with the rankings led by American Nelly Korda.

Leona Maguire, too, finished strongly with a 70 for 284 that left the 26-year-old Co Cavan golfer finished in tied-28th. Maguire, though, slipped from 18th in the order of merit to 22nd.

Patty Tavatanakit’s magnificent win (earning her a cheque for $465,000) saw the 21-year-old Thai golfer move up to third on the order of merit and also move ahead of Maguire in the Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year rankings. Tavatanakit moved to the top of the standings on 407 points accumulated so far this season, with Maguire in second with 149 points.

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Although both Tavatankit and Maguire earned their full tour cards of the Symetra Tour in 2019, there was no rookie award on the LPGA Tour in 2020 due to the reduced playing season caused by Covid-19 and so both are eligible in that category again this season.

With no tournament on the LPGA Tour this week, both Meadow and Maguire will have a week off before resuming their schedules at next week’s Lotte Championship in Hawaii.

Tavatanakit, ranked 103rd in the world before the championship, made her first win on the LPGA Tour a Major one. The Thai golfer’s statistics were impressive: she averaged drives of 323 yards, hit 61 of 72 greens-in-regulation and averaged 29 putts a round.

“Coming into this year I didn’t really set any goals just because I knew how tough it was last year, and I just wanted to come out, to learn to be a better player. My dad told me, if anything, you should keep your goal at [getting] under 100 Rolex rankings and top-60 for CME. That’s just been my goal at the back of my mind,” said Tavatanakit, poised to jump into the world’s top-15 and with exemptions into the season’s four remaining Majors.

Final scores

(USA unless stated, Par 72):

270 Paphangkorn Tavatanakit (Tha) 66 69 67 68

272 Lydia Ko (Nzl) 70 69 71 62

277 Sei-Young Kim (Kor) 72 71 68 66, Nelly Korda 71 70 70 66, Shanshan Feng (Chn) 67 69 72 69, Nanna Koerstz Madsen (Den) 72 68 71 66

278 Ind-Bee Park (Kor) 70 69 70 69, Jin-Young Ko (Kor) 69 70 71 68, Ally Ewing 71 70 66 71

279 Mi-Rim Lee (Kor) 69 70 68 72, Moriya Jutanugarn (Tha) 68 69 73 69, Megan Khang 68 73 71 67

280 Danielle Kang 72 70 73 65

281 Pernilla Lindberg (Swe) 72 72 69 68, Hannah Green (Aus) 71 71 70 69, Melissa Reid (Eng) 71 73 70 67, Mi-Hyang Lee (Kor) 73 71 68 69, Charley Hull (Eng) 69 69 71 72

282 Brooke Henderson (Can) 75 69 68 70, Gabriela Ruffels (Aus) 72 70 69 71, Yu Liu (Chn) 71 71 69 71, Stephanie Meadow (NIrl) 71 73 71 67, Christina Kim 70 70 73 69, Ryann O'Toole 71 71 72 68

283 Anna Nordqvist (Swe) 68 70 74 71, Min-Jee Lee (Aus) 72 70 74 67, Gaby Lopez (Mex) 73 67 70 73

284 Leona Maguire (Irl) 67 73 74 70, Jenny Shin (Kor) 71 74 72 67, Cristie Kerr 72 73 74 65, Azahara Munoz (Esp) 70 72 72 70, Lauren Stephenson 71 72 72 69, Yui Kawamoto (Jpn) 71 69 75 69, Hyo-Joo Kim (Kor) 72 73 70 69, Pajaree Anannarukarn (Tha) 71 69 71 73

285 Alexis Thompson 70 72 75 68, Georgia Hall (Eng) 69 70 77 69, Jessica Korda 69 76 68 72, Xiyu Lin (Chn) 72 72 73 68

286 Stacy Lewis 76 69 67 74, Angela Stanford 72 73 70 71, Mi-Jung Hur (Kor) 71 71 71 73, Austin Ernst 73 68 73 72, Amy Olson 73 69 73 71, Gerina Piller 70 72 71 73, Jaye Marie Green 71 71 70 74

287 Jeon-Geun Lee (Kor) 71 70 72 74, Hee-Young Park (Kor) 73 72 72 70, Maria Torres (Pur) 73 72 72 70

288 Som-Yeon Ryu (Kor) 72 72 68 76, Celine Boutier (Fra) 75 69 72 72, Amy Yang (Kor) 70 73 73 72, Bronte Law (Eng) 69 74 76 69, Yuka Saso (Phi) 69 71 77 71, Pornanong Phatlum (Tha) 70 75 71 72, Daniela Holmqvist (Swe) 70 70 74 74

289 Brittany Lincicome 73 70 73 73, Linnea Stroem (Swe) 75 69 68 77, Angel Yin 72 73 70 74

290 Ariya Jutanugarn (Tha) 68 75 76 71, Sophia Popov (Ger) 70 69 73 78, Jennifer Kupcho 69 72 77 72

291 Eun-Hee Ji (Kor) 72 72 76 71, Caroline Masson (Ger) 73 71 73 74, Kelly Tan (Mal) 71 73 76 71, Nicole Broch Larsen (Den) 71 74 73 73

292 Nasa Hataoka (Jpn) 75 69 74 74, Aditi Ashok (Ind) 73 72 75 72

293 Jennifer Song 72 72 74 75

294 Cydney Clanton 74 70 73 77, Kristen Gillman 72 73 74 75