Another teenager won the LPGA 2023.
The 2023 Portland Classic saw five players within four shots of Chanettee Wantasaen as they turned the corner to the back nine.
The 19-year old rookie qualified on Monday for the event this week at Columbia Edgewater Country Club, Oregon. She left with the trophy following a memorable Pacific Northwest week. Wannasaen’s season-low round was 66 on the Friday, and she went even better on Saturday with a 65. A 9-under-par 63 on the Sunday secured her first LPGA victory at 26-under. She is the 10th person to achieve this feat in the current season.
Wannasaen, a native of Chiang Mai in Thailand, won her last title in 2022, at the Trust Golf Links Series at Ramside Hall, on the Ladies European Tour Access Series. She had previously won two titles on the Thai LPGA Tour, at the Singha Pattaya Ladies Open, and Thai LPGA Championship, earlier in the season. She had made it to the finals in both of her LPGA debuts in February and in March this year, at the LPGA Drive On Championship and Honda LPGA Thailand.
Wannasaen said on Saturday, “I missed about nine events this year in the LPGA tournament.” “That makes me more confident.”
The teenager showed his confidence on Sunday, as he played the final round without any difficulty and with the confidence of an experienced major champion. After a par-par start, Wannasaen caught fire with a five-hole stretch of birdie-birdie-eagle-birdie-birdie on Nos. Three-seven gives you a three shot lead with nine to go. Wannasaen made three more birdies at Nos. 13-14 and 17 were the key holes in the victory.
Wannasaen became the third LPGA player to qualify on Monday and win that same week. She joins Laurel Kean, who won the 2000 State Farm LPGA Classic, and Brooke Henderson. Henderson also qualified on Monday for the Portland Classic, at Columbia Edgewater Country Club, and won the 2015 event. Yealimi Noh was on the verge of joining Kean, Noh, and Wannasaen in the 2019 Portland Classic. However, the 18-year-old lost a three shot lead on Sunday, as Hannah Green won by one stroke.
Ranked no. Wannasaen, ranked 367th in the world is the third lowest ranked player on the LPGA. The two previous wins, Rose Zhang (482) and Alexa Panto (402) happened earlier this summer.
