Los Angeles (United States) (AFP) – Jeeno Thitikul closed with back-to-back birdies in a two-under par 70 on Friday to stretch her lead to three strokes as sweltering heat and high winds again tested golfers at the Women’s PGA Championship in Texas. Jeeno, the world number two from Thailand, started the day with a one-shot lead over Australia’s Minjee Lee at Fields Ranch East at PGA Frisco north of Dallas. She teed off on the 10th hole and after a bogey at 12 was back in control with birdies at the 15th and third. She gave a stroke back at the par-three fourth, where she missed the green, but rolled in a 12-foot birdie at the eighth and a four-footer at the ninth to finish 36 holes on six-under 138.
“The wind and the rough,” the 22-year-old said of the toughest challenges on a day when only 14 players broke par. The 22-year-old, who has won already this year on both the Ladies European Tour and the LPGA Tour, is chasing her first major title. She was three strokes clear of Australian Minjee Lee and Japan’s Rio Takeda. Jeeno said she actually played better than she had in posting a 68 on Thursday. “I had better tee shots than yesterday and put myself in the positions that I have a chance,” she said. “If not, I just tried to make par. I think par, it’s a really big key here — no birdies but 18 pars, you take it.”
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Lee, who started the day one adrift, had three birdies and three bogeys in her even par 72. Takeda teed off on 10 and had all four of her birdies on her second nine: three in a row at the fourth, fifth and sixth, and an up and down from a bunker at the ninth in a one-under 71. Lee also said the wind was a key factor, making club selection difficult. “It just felt like it was so much more magnified,” Lee said. “Yesterday the ball, I mean, if it was a left-to-right wind and I hit a little bit of a draw it didn’t really touch it as much as, like, today I hit a draw and it still went left to right. I just tried to stay patient out there,” she added. “It was really windy and quite hard to even hold the greens on some of them.”
Only seven players finished the day under par for the tournament. US veteran Lexi Thompson was alone in fourth after a 70 for two-under 142, with South Korean Lee So-mi, Japan’s Chisato Iwai, and American Auston Kim sharing fifth on one-under 143. Thompson, an 11-time LPGA winner who is playing a limited schedule this year, was among the earliest starters and had three birdies before a bogey at 18 in her two-under 70. “(It) got pretty windy even for the morning,” Thompson said. “It was blowing more than it did yesterday, so I knew I just had to commit to my lines out there. It’s a tough golf course, especially when the wind blows. If you miss the fairways you just have to take your medicine, pitch out, and try to save par any way you can, make the worst score a bogey.”
World number one Nelly Korda carded a two-over 74, finally mustering two birdies in her last three holes to finish the day eight strokes off the lead.
© 2024 AFP
