Dubai Moonlight Classic drawcard Ariya Jutanugarn on her first taste of night-time golf, her love-hate relationship with her driver and why travelling the world with older sister Moriya is the best.

By GolfDigestme.com

Welcome to Dubai for the first time?
I have never ever been here before – it is one of my dream destinations I really wanted to come and look around. I was delighted when I knew I was coming here. I have the tournament of course but on Saturday and Sunday, I am planning to do as much as I can to see around the city.

Is this your first shot at night golf?
It is yes, but really I view it as another experience that I will have to learn from. I did wonder, how am I going to see the ball but I have asked players and they have told me you can see the ball fine because of the floodlights, and I also wondered about reading the greens but this is just an experience to learn from that I am looking forward to! I never played before but my sister has played a couple of times I think.

You have never played the Faldo course. Have you done any background research?
I really wanted to see the course at night as I don’t know what it would be like. But watching the videos I realised it is not so dark with all the floodlights! I do see there is a lot of water to carry this week!

Do you have any fears about water and hazards now?
Of course, I will look at the water but I will try not to think negative thoughts about it, rather I think about where I want to go, and where I want to put my shot. Sometimes I  have nerves and excitement on first hole but I have tried to learn and manage my fear so that when I am scared I am still able to hit the golf ball.

Tell us about that love-hate relationship with your driver, you don’t use the club much…
I would say a long time ago, after I had surgery on my shoulder, I struggled to hit driver so didn’t hit for a while and since 2015 I felt I don’t really need to hit driver. Some of the courses, I don’t need to hit it and I’m happy hitting 3 wood off the tee. So it is tough for me because if I bring driver I have to leave out another club and think of another game plan. But I’m hitting driver almost every day (on the range) and some time I hope I will feel comfortable on the course with it.

You work with Pia Nilsson and Lynne Marriott – the performance coaches at VISION54, what is so special about them?
I first met them in 2016, only 2-3 months before I won the tournament. They are so different, they teach me how to only focus on my game and not think about the outcome. We always want to win the tournament and play well and win, but thinking about that is not going to help you – you have to think about only what is under your control. They help me with this and for 5 years now I have been working with them.

Talk about playing and progressing with your sister Moriya, how important is it to have each other, and do you support each other’s games?
I feel so lucky to have her, we grew up together and practice together and still live together and everywhere I go to play, she is with me so I never get lonely and she is also there if I need to talk to someone – she supports me in everything.
When we young we like to talk about golf. We talked about bad shots and whatever and then after we take lessons with Pia and Lynn we stop talking about that. We only now say something good or positive. So if I talk to her I only talk about making birdies or positive things that happened during the round. We mostly talk about drama of life away from golf, and now we have a dog so now after rounds it is all about training and taking care of the dog.

You went 1015 days without a win between the 2018 Scottish Ladies and the Honda LPGA Thailand earlier this year. How did you feel during this time?
Actually, I didn’t feel a win is coming at all, and yes of course I felt down on myself. I felt I was working so hard so why wasn’t this turning into a win? I was working hard but I hadn’t had a win since 2018 and it was starting to test my patience. Golf is a sport where you start off every week as a new week. We feel different every day, so you can’t expect to play well every week. But I still have to do my very best and do my job. But you simply have to do your best even if the outcome isn’t the way you want it to be.

Your compatriot Atthaya Thitikul will also be playing this week, what can we expect from her?
You know to me she is one of the best players, she works so hard and her motivation is second to none. Her and Patty Tavatanakit (another young Thai golfer) are so inspiring to me, the way they work hard and practice and work out – all to get better at golf and be the best players they can be. This is very inspiring and they will both be great players in the future.

You are the first Thai player to win on LPGA, and first Thai to win a Major championship, is there anything in particular that you are proud of?
The Honda Classic was special – I played that event since  I was 11, and played so well in 2013 but lost to Inbee Park on the last hole, and have been wanting to win it for almost 10 years so it was very special.

Tell us about the Thai people and love you have over all these years…
All the Thai fans give me the best support I ever had, even on the bad days they believe in me and give me their support me. Winning this year, I felt I had been struggling for 2-3 years not about golf but everything going on, I almost felt like I should give up because it was so hard for me but  I kept going and doing my thing and that has proved you should never give up, keep doing your thing and working hard and one day it will work out.