Jutanugarn becomes the queen of May

As Ariya Jutanugarn (21, Thailand) has been taking a sweeping upturn, the competition for the gold medal in the Rio de Janeiro Olympics will be more rough. Jutanugarn noted, "Of course my goal is the gold medal."

Jutanugarn, who has the nickname "May," won three trophies in May. On Sunday local time, she won the fourth round of the LPGA Volvik Championship held at Travis Pointe Country Club (par: 72) in Ann Arbor, Michigan. She finished the round with 15 under par, no bogey, and five birdies.

As the first Thai champion in the LPGA Tour by winning the Yokohama Tire LPGA Classic in early May, Jutanugarn won the Kingsmill Championship as well as the LPGA Volvik Championship, grabbing a total of three gold medals in a few weeks. No one's first trophy had led to a triple crown in the LPGA Tour history before Jutanugarn. The last triple crown was made three years ago by Park In-bee in 2013. Jutanugarn received 585,000 dollars in prize money in May alone, which is the second highest total. Her world ranking was 33 in April, but it has now jumped up to 10.

Jutanugarn remarked, "'May' has been my nickname in my family since when I was born. This May will never be forgotten. I learned how to control myself in difficult situations. The course was tricky as the fairway was narrow, but I planned the game thoroughly." Her sister, Moriya Jutanugarn, is also competing in the LPGA Tour.

Jutanugarn's swing speed is 110 miles, which is close to the PGA Tour average (112 miles). In this match, she did not put the driver in her bag. She finished the course easily with 270-yard shots with a 2-iron and a 3-wood.

Last year, Jutanugarn was eliminated from 10 competitions in the preliminary rounds. One of the factors that enabled her surprising progress was help from Yim Man-seong, a Korean agent at management firm IMG. "Jutanugarn had a new swing coach right before this season," Yim said. "In the spring, her mentality and confidence were greatly strengthened as she had two mental coaches who has also helped Annika Sorenstam." Yim introduced Jutanugarn to Gary Gilchrist who helped Tseng Yani and Feng Shanshan be successful golfers.

앤아버=김종석기자 kjs0123@donga.com