Nelly Korda, who replaced Thitikul in the world rankings earlier this year, saw enough putts sink for a 64, putting her at the top of the leaderboard around the time Thitikul started.
She fell five shots behind, at least in the mix to win for the first time this year.
Thitikul made it difficult for everyone by recording four birdies in a row around the turn and six birdies in an eight-hole stretch. She played alongside Sei Young Kim, who did her best to keep pace, making six birdies on the back nine at Tiburon Golf Club for a 66.
Thitikul, the defending champion, was at 14 under 130.
“Better than yesterday for sure,” Thitikul said with a smile. “I still haven’t had any complaints with one bogey free and then nine birdies. So I’ll take it.”
Somi Lee, who opened the LPGA season finale with a 64, bogeyed the par-5 opening hole and never really got going. She had two birdies on her last five holes and saved a 70 that left the South Korean four shots behind, along with NASA Hataoka (67).
But this was the Thitikul show, and it was all Kim could do to keep up while playing alongside her on another warm day with receptive grass on the greens allowing such good scores.
“Nine holes, Jeeno is a five-stroke (lead),” Kim said. “I try to make a lot of birdies, especially back nine. So yeah, I have the fire back nine. I mean, she’s great. She turned every hole into a birdie opportunity. She’s a great player. I make the birdie and she makes the birdie.”
Together they birdied all but two of the last 11 holes they played.
Thitikul leads the points-based LPGA Player of the Year award. The only player who can catch her is Women’s British Open champion Miyuu Yamashita of Japan, who shot a 69 and was nine shots behind entering the weekend.
Thitikul and Yamashita are the only players with multiple wins this year.
Korda is remarkably yet to win this year after a seven-title season in 2024, and she got off to a slow start to the Tour Championship. But she saw plenty of birdie putts from 10 to 15 feet in the second round, making her an early target.
What caused the turnaround in her wells?
“Honestly, yesterday I went to the putting green for five minutes and I saw a couple of balls actually roll into the hole, which was nice. And then I took off,” Korda said.
She also had a low round at The Annika last Friday to get back into the mix and fell back over the weekend. This time she is five strokes behind a player who lives up to her reputation as the best in women’s golf.
Thitikul started her birdie streak with a pair of 10-footers on the eighth and ninth holes. She then hit a wedge to within inches of the cup at No. 10, and hit her approach to a back-right pin over a bunker to 5 feet at No. 11, the hardest-playing hole at Tiburon.
The only green she missed was the 18th, but only because her approach just rolled off the green and still gave her a birdie putt from about 18 feet that she missed.
Seven players were within five shots of Thitikul with 36 holes to go, a group that also included Brooke Henderson and Minjee Lee. The winner will receive $4 million, the richest prize in women’s golf.
Thitikul shot 22 under par last year and still won by just one shot. Last year, Amy Yang set a tournament record by winning at 27 under 261. So she realizes she has to keep up with the birdies.
“As I always say, all the winners here, the score is about 20 plus, which is a very low score,” Thitikul said. “We just have to keep making more and more.”
#Defending #champion #Jeeno #Thitikul #storms #threeshot #lead #CME #Tour #Championship