CHANDLER, Ariz. — Lilia Vu did not really feel her finest on the vary. She made up for that on the golf course Friday with an 8-under 64, taking a two-shot lead over a bunch that features Nelly Korda and Jeeno Thitikul in a Ford Championship full of LPGA stars.
Korda and Thitikul, the Nos. 1 and a pair of gamers, respectively, within the ladies’s world rating, have been grouped within the morning and placed on fairly a present at Whirlwind Golf Membership.
Thitikul had a birdie-birdie-eagle-birdie begin and was 6 underneath by way of six holes. She shot 29 on her opening 9, with Korda at 31. Thitikul wound up with a 64 and Korda had a 65.
“It was like a fantastic tempo. We saved our rhythm actually properly,” Korda mentioned. “When everyone seems to be enjoying properly, you form of feed off one another as nicely.”
The Ford Championship is the primary home LPGA occasion because the Asia swing (Korda skipped it for the second straight yr), and the sector was as robust because it will get this aspect of a significant, with everybody from the highest 10 on this planet and 19 out of 20.
Vu, a double main winner in 2023 who struggled due to a again harm final yr, was feeling stress on the vary and mentioned her caddie settled her down. He instructed her to choose a goal, and that is about so simple as Vu made it look.
She goes into the weekend at 14-under 130 with out having made a bogey.
“Simply centered on the shot in entrance of me and getting from level A to level B,” Vu mentioned. “That basically form of helped me. One way or the other simply occurred to play nicely. Felt like every thing was grooving in the suitable spot.”
Charley Hull, who led after the primary day with a 63, struggled to get going as a lightweight wind picked up in in any other case comfy climate for Arizona. She was even par by way of six holes — that meant shedding floor on today — and rallied for a 69. However she made just one birdie on the 4 par 5s and joined Korda, Thitikul and Nanna Koertz Madsen at 12-under 132.
“I hit some actually good chips on the market and even some good saves and performed stable. Simply wanting ahead to the weekend now,” Hull mentioned.
The lower was at 4-under 140, good scoring for a course that also options agency, bouncy greens that may make it tough to get straightforward appears at birdie. Thitikul and Vu relied on loads of medium-length birdie putts.
Lydia Ko was one shot above the lower line when the Olympic gold medalist completed birdie-eagle-birdie to get inside 5 photographs of the lead going into the weekend.
“Simply with how agency the course is, I used to be form of scratching my head on the eleventh pondering, ‘Why does it really feel like I had a poor ball-striking day?’ I did not, however simply with how agency the greens are generally it is actually onerous to get actually near the pins.
“I’ve simply acquired to maintain my head excessive and hit one shot at a time,” she mentioned. “I believe that is what led to the nice end at present.”
Brooke Henderson, who opened with a 65 and was two photographs out of the lead, shot a 75 and made the lower on the quantity.
