13 March 2022: The Dane may have been chasing her first victory on the LPGA, but she played the final round with remarkable calm and ambition. Appearing set for a runaway win, Nanna Koerstz Madsen had to rein her nerves and work hard for a playoff win over a patient Xiyu Lin in the LPGA Thailand at Chonburi. Aditi Ashok made a steady start to the week, saving her best for the weekend. The Indian made 68 and 67 in the money rounds to earn a confidence boosting finish to the tournament.
Aditi was bogey free on Sunday. She began on a sedate note, making seven straight pars. Aditi fuelled her round with a sudden burst of birdies at the turn. She made four in five holes from the seventeenth before signing off with her final birdie at the par-3 eighth hole.
At 11-under 277, Aditi finished in T44, just behind a group of four golfers including Carlota Ciganda and Ariya Jutanugarn.
Koerstz Madsen started her round just one ahead of Xiyu Lin and Celine Boutier. An eagle on the first and a birdie that followed on the second helped her steer clear off the chasing pack. The Dane did not let up from there, keeping her foot firmly on the pedal, despite a momentum threatening six on the par-5 seventh hole.
She addressed the bogey with a hattrick of birdies from the eighth hole. Koerstz Madsen gained a four stroke cushion over Xiyu Lin with another birdie, her fifth on Sunday, at the par-4 fourteenth hole. Lin made her first and only bogey at the 13th hole to complicate her situation.
But what followed from there was sheer drama of the highest degree. Both women made birdies on the fifteenth, setting the tone for a final remarkable twist to the script. Lin made birdies on the last two holes, while Koerstz Madsen, solid all day, melted to concede bogeys on the 16th and 18th. Koerstz Madsen shot 67 to a 66 from Lin.
Eventually, it would take the Dane a birdie on the second playoff hole to earn herself a maiden victory on the LPGA.
“It’s amazing. It’s a dream come true,” said Koerstz Madsen. “It was a crazy day; a lot of good things. It was actually fun playing the playoff with (Xiyu) at the end. I’m really excited to be standing with the trophy right now.”
The two women surpassed the previous tournament record of 25-under set by Jessica Korda in 2018, the year in which the Dane joined the circuit in America.
“She really fought. She finished up birdie-birdie, so she played amazing, too,” Koerstz Madsen said of Lin. “Yes, I’m not going to lie, I was a little nervous there.”
Lin rued missing out despite coming incredibly close, making four straight birdies at the end and going the lowest she ever has in her career. “I’m very proud. Sometimes it’s just weird. You shot 26-under and then cannot win a tournament,” said Lin. “But that’s my lowest ever shot in a tournament week, and like four days of very solid golf. Like I’m going to take a lot from this.”
Boutier, just one back at the start of the day, took some early blows. She made bogeys on the second and third as she slipped out of the chase. But she played some impeccable golf from there, picking birdies at 7, 9, 12 and 15, before achieving a crescendo with an eagle on the 72nd hole. She finished the week in third place at 25-under 263, just one behind Lin and the winner.
“It’s all uphill and into the grain, so I just was focusing on hitting it close and just make a birdie,” said Boutier of her eagle on the last. “Then when I made contact, I knew it was like a good shot and I knew I had a chance, but having it go in is definitely a bonus.”
Hyo Joo Kim jumped to T6 with an imposing 65 in the final round. Her bogey free final round catapulted the Korean to 22-under 266. Amy Yang surpassed her compatriot with an even better 64 to climb up to T4 with Brooke Henderson at 23-under 265.
