Atthaya Thitikul of Thailand birdied five of her last seven holes to charge into the second-round lead at the LPGA Mizuho Americas Open on Friday in Jersey City, New Jersey.
The former World No.1 matched the low round of the day with a 7-under 65 at Liberty National Golf Club to get to 9-under 135 for the tournament. That gave her a two-shot edge on Lee Mi So of South Korea (second-round 71) entering the weekend.
Thailand's Ariya Jutanugarn (68) had another solid round to move into a tie for third place with current World No.1 Nelly Korda of the US, Gabriela Ruffels (70) of Australia and Mao Saigo (70) of Japan.
One of the top young stars in women’s golf, 21-year-old Atthaya birdied the first and third holes and stayed bogey-free before her big run got started at the par-4 12th and the par-5 13th.
She then rolled in three in a row at 15 through 17, all par-4s, to zip to the top of the leaderboard.
“I think 15 is a tough pin, but I was just trying to go for the pin, because there was not much wind,” Atthaya said. “But I just think that for all of them I just made the putt, except 16 where I hit it close. Ball-striking was pretty good on the back nine but not the front nine today.”
Atthaya won twice on the LPGA Tour in 2022 but has not broken through since. She began this season dealing with a thumb injury and made just her third start of the season this week.
“Last year, as everyone knows, I was talking about struggling, you know, mental-wise, emotional-wise on the course,” Atthaya said.
“… But maybe overall after that when I can (come to the US) and play in (the Chevron Championship), be able to play golf again, it’s just like it clicks and changes my mind. Just to be able to play golf, it’s good enough for me.”
Lee was the surprise 18-hole leader after getting into the field at the last minute as the second alternate. She had three bogeys to go with four birdies on Friday, but she was just glad to have time for her normal pre-round preparation, unlike Thursday.
“Today I could do all the routines that I always do, so it was just — everything was appreciated,” Lee said. “Yeah, my mindset was like I’m so (appreciative) of everything.”
Korda is lurking again after piling up five birdies and one bogey Friday. She recently had a five-start winning streak come to an end when Rose Zhang won last week’s Cognizant Founders Cup.
Korda played her round with Atthaya and praised the tournament leader for her “phenomenal” golf.
“I’m happy to be in it,” Korda said. “Three back at the halfway point, but hopefully I can give it my best.”
Lexi Thompson (145), Allisen Corpuz (149), Danielle Kang (149) and New Zealand’s Lydia Ko (149) were among big names who missed the cut.