Thai golfing sensation Ariya Jutanugarn won her first professional tour event on Sunday at the Lalla Meryem Cup in Morocco.
The Thai teenager shot a 14 under 270 in the tournament to command the lead. Briton Charlie Hull and Beth Allen of the United States shared second place in the Ladies European Tour event.
Morocco has been kind to Ariya. When she last visited, as an amateur for the LET’s Lalla Aicha Tour School in December, she won the Final Stage by five shots.
The 17-year-old rookie from Bangkok again displayed her remarkable talent when she came from a stroke behind overnight leader Charley Hull to earn a three stroke victory with rounds of 69, 67, 67 and 67 for a 14 under par total at the par-71 Golf de l'Ocean.
Ariya birdied the first three holes to quickly establish a three stroke advantage and almost holed a seven-footer for birdie on the fourth.
She then birdied the seventh to get to 14 under, four clear of Hull, who then bogeyed the eighth to drop back into a share of second with American Beth Allen giving Ariya a five shot lead.
Ariya's momentum stalled when she double bogeyed the par-five 15th, having driven into the bushes left of the fairway and very briefly she held only a one stroke lead over Allen.
However, she holed a solid 10-foot putt on the 17th to regain a three-stroke lead and at the 18th, safely two-putted for par.
After winning, she said: "I played very good today on the front nine and on the second nine, the par five, it got really exciting because there was only one shot lead. I have experience from my last one and that made me a little bit nervous."
Asked how she was going to spend her prize money, Ariya said, "It's all for my dad! I'm going to keep playing on the European Tour and I hope to win some more."
Video of Ariya's victory is at this link.
Ariya walks off the 18th green Sunday with her first win as a professional.