CHARLESTON, S.C. -- Some of golf's best players long have believed that defeats are better than victories when it comes to learning about themselves -- and learning how to succeed in what can be a maddening sport.
It makes sense, then, that Ariya Jutanugarn had the best of both worlds at last year's U.S. Women's Open in one of the most up-and-down final rounds by a champion. Jutanugarn squandered a huge lead but managed to win a playoff against Hyo Joo Kim at Shoal Creek outside Birmingham, Alabama. Jutanugarn received the education and still got the trophy.
The 74th U.S. Women's Open begins Thursday at the Country Club of Charleston, and no prior defending champion has come back with the same history -- a collapse of epic proportions ultimately overcome by a master class of winning resolve in the playoff.
"I played absolutely great my front nine," Jutanugarn said Tuesday of last year's fourth round. "It's unbelievable, like I'm never going to play that good again I felt. And then I made the turn on No. 10, all I'm thinking about, you know, is I'm in a seven-shot lead. I'm going to keep the seven-shot lead until the last hole. It should be easy for me to win the tournament. But that's not a good way to think about that."
It sure wasn't. There was a triple bogey on the 10th and bogeys on Nos. 12, 17 and 18. A back-nine 41.
"That's just golf," said Lexi Thompson. "It's such an up-and-down game. Some days you can have it. You're going to hit bad shots. Sometimes, you're in the heat of the moment, sometimes things get going a little bit faster. If you struggle, they get even faster. You need to learn from those kinds of mistakes. I know I have."
Jutanugarn did.
"I still have to [be] myself and stick with my process," she said, "because especially thinking about my seven-shot lead is not helping me to even hit a good shot."
Now 23 years old, Jutanugarn, the first golfer from Thailand to win on the LPGA Tour, went on to have her best season. She finished with three victories and swept the LPGA's five major awards: Rolex Player of the Year, money title, Vare Trophy (lowest scoring average), Race to the CME Globe and Rolex Annika Major Award (for best overall performance in the five major championships).
She has tried to bring a better perspective to her life by not making golf an all-or-nothing thing.
"Before, I felt like golf is my everything," Jutanugarn, who has 10 career wins, said. "When I play well, I feel great. When I start to play not very good, I feel bad. But I have to learn to separate that, because when I didn't play well, it doesn't mean that I'm a bad person. I'm still a good person. I'm still a good kid for my mom. I'm still a good sister for my sister."
Charitable endeavors are a big part of Jutanugarn's efforts to gain balance. With her older sister, Moriya, also an LPGA player, she founded the Mo-May Golf Foundation -- the title from their respective nicknames -- to help underprivileged children in their home country. Last December, on an extended trip home, the sisters stayed very busy with this work.
"I want to inspire kids more because I feel like my life is more important that way," Jutanugarn said. "So basically I have something that I focus on."
On the course, Jutanugarn is searching for top form. Her scoring average (70.818) is almost 1½ strokes per round higher than last season, which explains why she doesn't have a win and has only two top-10 finishes in 11 starts compared to 17 in 28 tournaments a year ago. She is ranked 10th in putts per green in regulation and 72nd in greens in regulation compared to her rankings of first and 30th in those statistical categories in 2018.
After not cracking the top 40 in her past three appearances, Jutanugarn reunited with a former caddie, Pete Godfrey, last week. Godfrey, the husband of LPGA player Jane Park, is good for her mood, Jutanugarn says.
"I love Pete personally," Jutanugarn said. "He really has fun with every situation, even when I'm mad. When I'm angry, he knows how to have fun. I feel like whoever caddies for me, he has the best read of the greens."
Jutanugarn continues to work with putting coach Gareth Raflewski. She believes they have pinpointed a problem with her stroke.
"The most important thing to make a putt is you have to have good speed," she said. "And when I feel uncomfortable and not trust my stroke, it's tough to have a good speed. I'm working on my speed to try to get better."
As is usually the case, the powerful Jutanugarn won't even carry a driver this week. She struggles to maintain the confidence to hit that club and can hit her 3-wood far enough. She will hit a number of long irons off tees this week on a course that stresses position and accurate second shots to very demanding greens.
Whatever Jutanugarn's result this week and the rest of the season, it's still a big year. A feature film about Ariya and Moriya and how their parents, Somboon and Narumon, raised them, will be released in Thailand in August. Ariya was a bit reluctant to approve the film, but when convinced the movie might inspire children in Thailand, she gave it the green light.
"They say they want to inspire the kids, and they think our family's life is going to help the kids in Thailand," Jutanugarn said. "So that's why I do it. After two minutes of talking to them, I said yes, but they'd been waiting for me for like six months."
Movies about golf have generally struggled to have actors make tour-quality swings. Jutanugarn had one directive to the filmmakers. "I told them if you would be close to me, make sure you hit it hard," she said. "If you hit it soft, it's definitely not me, so make sure you hit it hard."
