A week after Arpichaya Yubol flirted with the lead in a major championship, she toyed with a round of 59 at the ShopRite LPGA Classic.
Friday morning, Yubol began her opening round on the second nine at Seaview’s Bay Course and came to her closing hole, the par-5 9th, needing an eagle to match what has been done only once before on the LPGA Tour, when Annika Sorenstam shot a 59 in 2001. Yubol sat at 10-under par when she arrived at the 477-yard, par 5 where the young Thai hit her third shot, a pitch from short of the green, to within 10 feet of the hole. Yubol two-putted from there for par and close with a round of 61 to tie a the tournament record at the ShopRite LPGA Classic.
“I think a little bit, because like last two hole I do 10-under already, right?” Yubol said about the prospect of shooting 59. “I think I can do more, like birdie, birdie.”
Yubol’s thrilling first day comes on the heels of a solid performance in the U.S. Women’s Open presented by Ally where she made a weekend charge with rounds of 68-69. The second-year Member would ultimately finish fifth at Lancaster Country Club, where she made her first cut in a major championship and picked up her first top 10 of her LPGA Tour career.
“I feel like my confidence is coming back from last week in the U.S. Women’s Open. It was the greatest week in my life and then it's make me more confident for this week,” Yubol said after her round on Friday. “I just talk with [my manager] and he made me more confident and by doing good last week it made me happy this week. I feel like my happy golf is coming back.”
What is happy golf for Yubol?
After her round on Friday, Yubol credited a series of conversations with her manager during the week of the U.S. Women’s Open for turning her season around. Yubol said she spent time talking with her manager for two to three hours each day of the major championship and said her manager helped her rediscover the inner confidence she’d been lacking since missing the cut in seven of nine starts this season. Yubol’s manager reminded her to think more positively, not to play in fear of missing the cut but to instead focus on advancing to the weekend, and also finishing in the top 10 or even top 5. That’s what Yubol says is her definition of ‘happy golf.’
“When I think bad, he clear my mind,” Yubol said about her conversations with her manager. “And he believes in me a lot and try to talk with me a lot like, ‘I believe in you, so you should believe yourself, too.’”
That renewed self-belief propelled Yubol to an opening round of 61 on Friday, which is not only her lowest round on the LPGA Tour but also matches a personal best for the 22-year-old, who said she recorded a round of 10-under par once before in her home country of Thailand.
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