Atthaya Thitikul made five birdies in her back nine to close with a 67 and retake the lead of the BMW Ladies Championship by one shot.
Atthaya Thitikul carded six birdies on Saturday to sit atop of the BMW Ladies Championship leaderboard with one round remaining.
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She holds the 54-hole lead or co-lead for the second time in her career, the first time was last month’s Walmart NW Arkansas Championship where she won her second LPGA Tour title after defeating Danielle Kang in a playoff.
“It’s always been hard to be in the final group, but aside from that, it means your work is paying (off), as well. So just keep doing your thing again,” said the Thai player. “You can be in contention every week, but you can’t win every week so just do real solid, just do your best out there and enjoy the last 18 holes, then I’m heading back home.”
Thitikul could become the new Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings No. 1 with a win on Sunday or if she finishes solo fourth or better. A win would also extend her lead in the Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year race and move her up in the Player of the Year standings.
“To be honest, I don’t really care about the ranking. I don’t really care to be like No. 1 in the world at all because I play golf because I want to take care of my family,” she said. “I want to feed my family. Whatever I am is fine. Even my family, they have a good life already. Ranking is not that important for me for real.”
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Overnight leader Andrea Lee (70) of the USA and New Zealander Lydia Ko (66) are tied in second place at 14-under.
Ko remained bogey-free and hit 11 of 14 fairways and 16 of 18 greens, her best ball-striking performance so far this week. She has been in great form recently with eight top-five finishes in her last eleven starts.
“It seems like there’s always been a few low scores, so you hope that that’s in your back pocket,’ said Ko. “I’ve just got to play my own game. There are so many players within reach, and with golf, who knows how many shots behind you can be and you’re still in position to be able to win. I don’t know what I’m going to finish at the end of today or how many shots behind, but if I am confident and playing the best golf I can, and if somebody plays better than me, I can’t do too much about that.”
American Lilia Vu is in solo fourth at 13-under after making seven birdies and four bogeys to close with a 69.
South Koreans Hyo Joo Kim and rookie Hye-Jin Choi are tied in fifth place at 12-under after carding 66s.
