Jin Hee Im, Atthaya Thitikul lead
at Chevron; Nelly Korda 1 shot back
Send a link to a friend
[April 20, 2024]
Jin Hee Im and Atthaya Thitikul carded matching rounds of
5-under-par 67 on Friday to share the lead after two rounds of the
Chevron Championship, the first women's major of the year at The
Woodlands, Texas.
South Korea's Im, who had a bogey-free round, and Thailand's
Thitikul, who recorded six birdies and one bogey, are tied at
8-under 136 after 36 holes at The Club at Carlton Woods.
Alone in third and one stroke back after a 69 on Friday is world No.
1 Nelly Korda, who is attempting to win her fifth straight start on
the LPGA Tour. She didn't look like the top golfer with a double
bogey to start her day at the par-4 first hole, but she recovered
quickly with birdies at two of the next three holes.
"Yeah, started out with a double. That was fun," Korda quipped. "I
hit two shots out of the left fairway bunker. Just kind of didn't
catch it super clean and it didn't actually hit the bunker lining,
just the grass, and bumped back in.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2024/Apr/20/images/ads/current/ldn_booksda_CHASSKAREN_010924.png)
"Then I bounced back with a birdie and made a birdie on the
following par-5."
A bogey at the par-3 seventh hole set her back to 3 under for the
tournament, but again she rebounded with two birdies, consecutively
this time at Nos. 8-9. The back nine was less adventurous with
birdies at Nos. 13 and 18 and seven pars.
"Yeah, kind of all over the place on the front nine, but pretty
clean scorecard on the back with two birdies," Korda said.
Korda said she isn't thinking ahead to the possibility of winning a
fifth event.
"I'm just at the halfway point right now," Korda said. "The amount
of golf that I've played, I still have that to go. There is still a
lot of golf left and anything can happen.
"Just going to stick to my process and vibe with it is what my coach
says," she added with a smile.
South Korea's Hae Ran Ryu has fourth place to herself after a 66,
leaving her at 6 under for the tournament. Another South Korean,
Shinsil Bang (65), is in a five-way tie at 5 under.
[to top of second column] |
![](../images/ads/current/graue_lda_4_2021.png)
First-round leader Lauren Coughlin is in that
group, as she followed her 66 on Thursday with a 1-over 73. Coughlin
bogeyed par-4s at Nos, 2, 9 and 14 but came through with an eagle at
the par-five No. 8.
"I would say I didn't quite hit it as good as I did (Thursday) for
sure," Coughlin said. "I still kind of missed in some good spots and
lipped out about a 6-footer on my second hole. Other than that, I
played really solid still.
"(Thursday) I hit just some tap-ins but did make eagle (Friday) on
8, which was really solid," she continued. "I hit it to like 3 feet.
Other than that, yeah, just wasn't quite my day."
Im is playing her first major as an LPGA Tour member.
"It's like (the) first time leading the tournament in LPGA, so like
I don't have any pressure. I enjoyed (the) rest of round," she said.
Her bogey-free round featured birdies at Nos. 4, 6, 8, 13 and 17.
"Pretty hard to play bogey-free every course, but especially on this
course," she said. "Bogey-free today feels like four rounds
bogey-free."
Thitikul, a two-time LPGA winner, won the Vare Trophy last season
for lowest scoring average. She had not played previously this
season because of a left thumb injury.
"I think the mindset was kind of change after, you know, injury and
then stay in my hometown," Thitikul said. "So I kind of have a lot
of the time with my family, my friends out there. And then, yeah,
it's kind of relax.
"And coming back being ... able to play golf again (is) just the
most important thing."
--Field Level Media
[© 2024 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
This material may not be
published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely
responsible for this content.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2024/Apr/20/images/ads/current/humanesociety_sda022411.png)
|