Pajaree Anannarukarn's first LPGA victory came the hard way: Her final round included a triple bogey, and she had to go to a playoff. But it's not how that first win comes that matters, it's just getting that first win.
Anannarukarn is a 22-year-old from Thailand who has been a member of the LPGA Tour since 2019. On August 1, 2021, she wrapped up play in the ISPS Handa World Invitational, an LPGA event played in Northern Ireland.
Anannarukarn entered the final round with a one-stroke lead following rounds of 70, 69 and 66. And she got off to a hot start in the final round, with birdies on three of the first four holes. Then disaster struck with a triple bogey on the sixth hole.
But Pajaree righted the ship and added three more birdies through the 15th hole. She bogeyed No. 16, birdied No. 17, and parred No. 18. That left her at 16-under 275, tied with Emma Talley.
On the first playoff hole, Talley and Anannarukarn matched fives on the par-5. Playing the same hole a second time, Anannarukarn made another par but Talley bogeyed. Victory — her first on the LPGA Tour — was Anannarukarn's.
Pajaree was a six-time winner of professional tournaments on the Thai LPGA Tour while she was still playing as an amateur. She turned pro in 2017 when she was 18. On the Symetra Tour in 2018, Pajaree had four Top 10s with a best finish of runner-up. She then did well enough in the LPGA Q-Series to earn provisional LPGA status for 2019.
And in that rookie year, she finished fourth in Rookie of the Year points and made 16 out of 19 cuts. She did not have any Top 10 LPGA finishes in 2019 or 2020, however.
That changed in 2021. Her first career Top 10 was a tie for 10th in the 2021 Pure Silk Championship in May. In July, she tied for third in the Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational. A week later, Anannarukarn tied for 10th in the Evian Championship, her best showing to date in a major.
And one week after that? Victory in the ISPS Handa World Invitational. Anannarukarn entered that tournament 44th in the LPGA's CME season ranking, and at No. 88 in the Rolex women's world rankings.
