Jeeno Thitikul goes on a late birdie run to catch Lydia Ko in LPGA

 

[September 21, 2024]  MAINEVILLE, Ohio (AP) — Lydia Ko set an early target and Jeeno Thitikul zoomed right past her Friday afternoon with three birdies over her last four holes for another 6-under 66 and a one-shot lead over Ko in the Kroger Queen City Championship.

Ko played bogey-free with an eagle on the par-5 eighth hole for a 66. Thitikul played in the afternoon, made birdie on all the par 5s at the TPC River's Bend and finished strong.

Thitikul hit pitching wedge over the water and avoided going long, setting up one final birdie that put her at 12-under 132 going into the weekend.

Haeran Ryu, who won the FM Championship three weeks ago for her first LPGA title, matched the low round of the day with a 65 and was two shots behind.

One of those low rounds belonged to Anna Nordqvist, who is among 11 players who were competing in the high-energy Solheim Cup last week. Also playing is Nelly Korda, the No. 1 player in women's golf, who had a 70 and was five shots behind.

Rose Zhang, who went 4-0 last week, was the only Solheim Cup player to miss the cut. She made a late double bogey and never recovered, posting a 71 to miss the weekend by one shot.

Thitikul is coming up on the two-year anniversary of her last individual victory. She teamed with Ruoning Yin to the win the Dow Championship this year, and has given herself plenty of other chances.

“Just looking forward for good golf and enjoyable golf out there,” Thitikul said. “I think a lot of good vibes coming from me, starting from like Olympics. ... I just want to play my game. Just want to control on my side, not others."

Ko has good vibes from a summer she won't soon forget. She won the gold medal at the Olympics, a victory that got her into the LPGA Hall of Fame. And then she won the Women's British Open for the second time, this one at St. Andrews.

Ko is coming off a three-week break and hasn't shown any signs of letting up.

Key to her round was her eagle on No. 8, and Ko appeared to be the least likely to do that. Zhang hit her second shot into short range. Charley Hull had 15 feet for eagle. Ko was off the green hopeful of getting up-and-down for birdie. Instead, she holed it.

“I kind of felt left out because Charley hit it to like 15 feet for eagle; Rose hit it to like two feet; and I had missed the green,” Ko said. “I hit it exactly the way that I was envisioning. As soon as it came off the club face and landed, Charley said, ‘Good shot.’ And five seconds later it went in the hole. I feel like those are an extra bonus.”

Gaby Lopez and Maria Fassi, who represented Mexico in the Olympics, each shot 67 and were among those at 9-under 135. Nordqvist was in the group another shot behind.

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