Thailand’s star player Ariya Jutanugarn is the woman in the big picture. With three events remaining to be played this season, the LPGA announced that Ariya has bagged Player of the Year honours.

 

 

 

 

 

Going into the TOTO Japan Classic, the long-hitting Thai with a hot putter and an utterly charming smile leads the Tour with 219 POY points. Sung Hyun Park, who shared 2017 POY honours with So Yeon Ryu, is in a distant second with 136 points, followed by Minjee Lee and then Brooke Henderson.

 

 

It’s been an amazing season for Jutanugarn. She’s made 25 LPGA starts and played the weekend 25 times. She ranks 12th on the Tour in distance off the tee, yet she doesn’t carry a driver in her bag.

 

 

While much is made of her shot-making power,  Ariya Jutanugarn is deadly accurate around the green and on the putting surface. She leads the Tour in putts per GIR and ranks second in overall putting average. That’s how she got the lowest scoring average for the season – 69.38 – and the most birdies – 421.

 

 

 

 

                                                                             Ariya with sister Moriya

 

 

 

It’s no wonder that she’s won three times, finished inside the top five eight times, and finished inside the top 10 at seven other events. She’s simply on form and on fire! And there are still three events to be played before the 2018 season ends.

 

 

In addition to locking in Player of the Year honours this week, Jutanugarn also edged past Sung Hyun Park and took over the top of the world rankings for the third time.

 

 

Jutanugarn first hit the top of the world rankings in June 2017. She held the pinnacle for two weeks. Then So Yeon Ryu and Sung Hyun Park battled back and forth for that honour through summer and fall, until both were unseated by Shanshan Feng.