By Amy Rogers
HAMILTON TOWNSHIP, Ohio – Ideal weather conditions for the second consecutive day made for another round of low scoring at the Kroger Queen City Championship presented by P&G on Friday at TPC River’s Bend.
First-round leader Chanettee Wannasaen took a two-stroke lead into the second round and teed off in the afternoon, but she had already been caught atop the leaderboard before her day began.
But Wannasaen wasted no time retaking control. The Thai began her day on the back nine and went three-under on her first four holes with a birdie at the par five, 11th hole and a hole-out for eagle at the par four, 13th hole to regain the outright lead. Wannasaen gave up her first bogey of the week at the difficult par four, 17th hole but immediately rallied at the reachable par five, 18th hole to maintain her lead. Wannasaen went quiet on the back nine, making a single birdie with eight pars to follow up her course record 63 on Thursday with a 68 on Friday.
“I just want me to play like this,” Wannasaen said about her approach this weekend, having rediscovered her enjoyment for the game for the first time in weeks. “I do not think about the score. I just want hit driver like this, hit iron like this. I just want to enjoy golf again.”
Wannasaen will be chasing down her third career win this weekend in Ohio. She held both the 36 and 54-hole leads en route to her victory at the Dana Open, but mounted a come from behind charge to capture her first career win on the LPGA Tour when she carded a final round, 63, in 2023 at The Standard Portland Classic.
Wannasaen leads at 13-under par, two strokes ahead of world No. 1 Jeeno Thitikul, Charley Hull, and Olivia Cown at 11-under par. Major champions Sei Young Kim and Maja Stark are part of a pack at 10-under par that also includes Gigi Stoll.
Thitikul and Kim were grouped together the first two days along with Ayaka Furue and fed off each other’s strong play to make a move up the leaderboard during the morning wave on Friday.
Kim grabbed the early momentum with three birdies in her first eight holes to tie Wannasaen at the top of the leaderboard before the first-round leader teed off. Kim began her day three-strokes off of the lead and went out in 33 but cooled on the back nine when she wasn’t able to convert a series of long birdie efforts.
It was on the back side that the group saw the momentum shift to Thitikul, who started her day six-strokes off the pace, and proceeded to go on a birdie run between holes Nos. 13-16 to leapfrog Kim atop the leaderboard. Thitikul closed with another birdie at the reachable par five, 18th hole to card an 8-under par round of 64.
Thitikul says she hasn’t been feeling confident with her driver since the AIG Women’s Open in August. The World No. 1 says she’s been trying to shallow out her downswing because she was too steep with her attack angle and says she hasn’t completely adjusted to the change. Given Thitikul’s challenges with her driver and the layout at TPC River’s Bend, Thitikul has opted to hit 3-wood off the tee which has made her much more accurate as she only missed three fairways through 36-holes.
“I was so surprised to be honest,” Thitikul said about the success she found on Friday. “But maybe because when you’re not like that much confident you’re not expecting things to be that good.”
Hull is in the hunt for the second consecutive week after a runner-up finish on Sunday at the Ladies European Tour’s Aramco Houston Championship. While the Englishwoman has battled injuries and illness throughout the season she’s put together a solid start to her week in Ohio with rounds of 68-65 in which she’s given up just a single bogey.
“I just played pretty steady from the get-go,” said Hull, who is coping with a back injury while still rehabilitating an ankle injury that bothered her on Friday. “I hit it pretty decently and took advantage of some good birdie holes and hit it close and holed some good putts.”
Stoll is a part of the chasing pack at 10-under par who also went out in the morning wave on Friday. One stroke off the lead to begin the day, Stoll said that maintaining her mental strength would be the biggest challenge for her to keep her momentum rolling through three more rounds. Stoll’s putter lifted her to the top of the leaderboard on Thursday and remained hot on Friday as she also credited her driving for giving her a chance to chase down her first win on the LPGA Tour this weekend.
“This is what we play golf for. It’s exciting to be chasing probably a couple of these girls just a few shots behind,” Stoll said about her position heading into the weekend. “Interested to see what happens this afternoon, but I am really looking forward to being at the back of the pack tomorrow.”
Nelly Korda began the day four strokes off the lead and, for the second consecutive day, had an up and down start to her round with four birdies, offset by two bogeys and two pars on her front nine. Midway through Korda’s back nine she climbed to 10-under par and within three strokes of the lead before running into trouble at the par four, 15th hole, where she had to take a drop due to an unplayable lie short of the putting surface. She fell victim to the par four, 17th to drop another shot, but she rebounded with a closing birdie to sit at 9-under par along with Mary Liu, Lottie Woad, Jiwon Jeon, Frida Kinhult, and Jenny Bae.
The cut line fell at two-under par which led several notable players to miss the weekend including former world No. 1 Jin Young Ko (-1), Hannah Green (-1), Megan Khang (-1), Akie Iwai (E), Lilia Vu (+1), Alison Lee (+5), and Yuka Saso (+12).
