Jasmine Suwannapura produced a spectacular round of 61 on Sunday, then edge Lucy Li (60) with an eagle on the second extra hole to earn victory at the 2024 Walmart NW Arkansas Championship.
Entering Sunday’s finale at Pinnacle Country Club in a tie for 25th, Li started her record-breaking round with a birdie on No.1. She carded two bogeys in the next three holes but then reeled off five birdies and an eagle in a seven-hole span to reach 12-under par and take the lead. With seven holes remaining, Li made eagles on the last two par 5s (Nos. 14 and 18) and a birdie on No. 15 to break the 18-hole tournament scoring record and best her career-low 18-hole score by four shots.
“I started with a birdie, and then I was hitting it good,” said Li. “I had a couple of three-putts. Just wasn’t feeling it. I made a couple like 6-foot birdie putts, and that gave me some confidence.
“On eight, I hit the fairway and was behind the tree a little. It suited my eye perfectly. I hit a little draw with the 5-iron. That pin back there is really tough. I didn’t see it go in, but I heard a roar by the green. I holed out on nine yesterday for eagle, too. Just really crazy.”
In the group behind Li, Suwannapura started her day ready to make a charge and opened her final round with two birdies in the first two holes. She picked another front-nine birdie on the par-3 6th to turn on 10 under and join Li in the lead pack.
The Thai then added four birdies in a five-hole span (Nos. 10, 11, 13 and 14) to reach 14 under. She added another birdie on 16, and after watching Li in the group ahead make an eagle on 18, Suwannapura knew she would need to respond with the same to tie the American. Suwannapura found the green in two and made her resulting eagle putt to post at 17-under to join Li in a playoff.
“The crowd was pretty loud, and it was probably a 30-foot putt. I figured it was her (Li’s) eagle putt. All I think was I just have work to do. I have to do my own work. I have to finish it. I have to make the best out of it,” said Suwannapura about watching Li finish her final round.
“The second shot wasn’t the easiest shot on my 18. I hit it to the right side. I got a free drop from the stand, like a little sign, and I actually slipped on that shot, and it went straight for the pin. I’m like, okay. So Fassi was like, let’s go. It was right at the pin. It’s straight at it. It was so good. She was just like, I think it was next to the pin. The TV guy said it’s about three feet. I’m like, awesome. Well, we walk up there and Fassi say, might as well do it, man. Just finish it. I did my best out there and made the putt.”
On the first overtime hole, both players reached the par 5 in two and had chances at eagle. Further away, Suwannapura went first, and her ball stopped just short of rolling into the cup, resulting in a tap-in birdie. About 20 feet away with a downhill right-to-left putt, Li missed her eagle try low of the hole, also cleaning up her birdie. The pair headed back up to the 18th.
On the second go-round on 18, Li pulled her tee ball left and into the rough, while Suwannapura again landed in the center of the fairway. Both players knocked their second shots towards the green, with Li’s approach sitting on the fringe, more than 50 feet away, and Suwannapura’s shot stopping 15 feet to the right of the flag. After Li’s third shot wound up short of the hole, Suwannapura dropped her right-to-left eagle putt in the center of the cup to claim her first LPGA Tour victory in five years.
“This week, I think my mindset was pretty solid. My mental was really good on this week,” said Suwannapura, who held the pole position after day 1.
“Literally it was hole by hole, shot by shot, and it’s actually filter out a lot of good and bad things out of my mind. I’m very focused to have that eagle putt with that situation. I said, you better finish it here, or it’s going to be a while, and I might not have another chance to putt for the win again. So, yeah. Just do it, and I made it.”
While the final result was a bit disappointing for the 21-year-old, Li couldn’t have been happier to have a shot at a title on Sunday afternoon in Arkansas.
“It’s great to be in contention. Jasmine played so great. She eagled 18 and eagled it again in the playoff,” said Li, who was in her first playoff on the LPGA Tour. “I feel like I really couldn’t have done much. It’s always better to lose to someone winning than it is to lose, so I’m really happy for her, and I’m feeling good about the final stretch of the year.”
For her win in Arkansas, Suwannapura earned $450,000, nearly double what she’d earned in all of 2024 ($237,702). Li took home a check for $275,072.
Suwannapura becomes the 117th player in LPGA history to surpass the $4 million mark in career earnings.
Sei Young Kim (63) finished solo third after making eagle on the 18th to reach 16 under. Rookie Mao Saigo (65) and Arpichaya Yubol (66) were T4 on 14 under.
Overnight leader Ashleigh Buhai shot a final-round 69 to finish solo sixth on 13 under.
2024 Walmart NW Arkansas Championship
Final Round: Top 10 Scorers
1. Jasmine Suwannapura -17 (-10)
2. Lucy Li -17 (-11)
3. Sei Young Kim -16 (-8)
4. Mao Saigo -14 (-6)
4. Arpichaya Yubol -14 (-5)
6. Ashleigh Buhai -13 (-2)
7. Lauren Hartlage -12 (-4)
7. Jennifer Kupcho -12 (-4)
7. Linnea Strom -12 (-4)
7. Jeeno Thitikul -12 (-4)
7. Nasa Hataoka -12 (3)
LPGA Communications post-round content used to compile report.
