The sisters began the final day of the teams’ event trailing the overnight leaders – Cydney Clanton/Jasmine Suwannapura and Aditi Ashok/Pajaree Anannarukarn – by two shots, before carding an impressive fourball 59.
“Before we went to the tee, I walked to my sister and told her like, you know what, Mo, today the goal is we’re going to try to make birdie every hole,” said Ariya, who now owns 12 LPGA Tour titles.
The pair didn’t quite reach that ambitious goal at Midland Country Club – carding 11 birdies against no bogeys – but their round was still good enough for a three-shot win over defending champions Clanton and Suwannapura.
“The way we played today, I just told myself, you know what, this is going to be a great memory for us to win together,” Ariya, 25, said.
“I would say this is the best moment for me because we won together. We helped each other to win the golf tournament.”
“I would say this is the best moment for me because we won together. We helped each other to win the golf tournament.” – Ariya Jutanugarn
Added older sister Moriya, who won her second LPGA Tour title and first since April, 2018: “You know, like of course every victory or every one, it’s always like make me happy, also. Especially like this week we were able to do it together. It’s just like really special for us, for both of us.”
Perth product Minjee Lee, meanwhile, finished fifth alongside reigning US Open champion Yuka Saso thanks to their eight-under 62 final round.
Lee and Saso both eagled the par-4 2nd hole, before the Australian added another one at the par-4 12th to accompany her four birdies at holes 3, 5, 9 and 16.
“The first eagle I hit a 7-iron in and it was kind of a – I didn’t see it disappear, so I didn’t know if it was like over the pin or if it was like going in, but the crowd was like, oh, it went in. Yeah, that was pretty cool,” Lee said.
“And then the second one, I just really wanted to hole. Yeah, it was like 20-something meters, and it went in, so it was really nice to add that score to the end score.
“It was really fun. I mean, (Saso’s) one of the best up-and-comers. She won the US Open. I know it was kind of like a last-minute partnership that we agreed to play together, but I think overall it was just a really fun week. She’s really pleasant to be around. I had fun.”
The LPGA Tour will now travel to France for the penultimate major of the year – The Evian Championship – before several players, including Lee, head to Tokyo for the Olympic Games.
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