Lalla Meryem Cup Sunday: Ariya Jutanugarn Breaks Through for 1st Professional Victory

After a few close calls already this season on both the LET and LPGA, Ariya Jutanugarn broke through for her 1st professional victory yesterday at the LET's Lalla Meryem Cup.  The only player to score in the 60s all 4 rounds, the 17-year-old beat fellow teenager Charley Hull and American Beth Allen by 3 shots, Marianne Skarpnord and Sarah Kemp by 8 shots, Laura Davies, Melissa Reid, and Lee-Anne Pace by 9 shots, Cheyenne Woods by 10 shots, and other current or former LPGAers by even more.  For instance, Gwladys Nocera, who was +5 for the week, 19 shots behind Jutanugarn's total, fell almost 30,000 euros behind her to 4th on the LET Order of Merit.  With Suzann Pettersen (#2) and Beatrize Recari (#3) definitely playing a full LPGA schedule this season, and Carlota Ciganda (#5) likely to get into all the LPGA events she wants to from #104 on the tour's Priority Status List, Nocera is likely to be Jutanugarn's toughest challenger among the LET's regulars, unless Allen and Amelia Lewis step up their games in a huge way or an LPGAer with dual LET status does great at the Evian or the Women's British Open.  It's all almost enough to make you wonder if Mike Whan made the wrong call last year when he rejected Ariya's age waiver request to participate in LPGA Q-School....