LYTHAM ST ANNES, England: Thailand’s Pornanong Phatlum will take a one-shot lead into the third round of the Women’s British Open after a 5-under par round of 67 on Friday.
A victory by the nine-year LPGA veteran from Chaiyaphum would be the sixth by a Thai player on the premier women’s golf tour this year. World No.1 Ariya Jutanugarn has won three times including last week at the Scottish Open, and sister Moriya and Thidapa Suwannapura have one win each.
Pornanong has slipped to 97th in the world rankings after struggling over the past few seasons. She was once ranked as high as 23rd in 2014 despite never having won on the Tour. With 26 career top-10 finishes but only one this year, she has amassed career earnings of US$3.4 million.
Pornanong is 10 under par after her bogey-free second round, one stroke ahead of Australia’s Minjee Lee, who finished runner-up to Ariya last weekend in Scotland. Lee is tied with Georgia Hall of England and Mamiko Higa of Japan.
The chasing pack also includes Korea’s top two players: World No.3 Park Sung-hyun at 7 under par and fourth-ranked Ryu So-yeon at 6 under.
Brooke Henderson of Canada, at 6 under after 11 holes, was the only player still on the course with a chance of catching Pornanong.
Ariya shot a 70 on Friday to move to 3 under par. Moriya, who had a late tee time, was at 2 under with the back nine still to play. Also teeing off late and at even par was Thidapa, who won her first LPGA title at the Marathon Classic last month.
Thai teen prodigy Atthaya Thitikul was at even par after seven holes. The 15-year-old earned her ticket to the British Open by winning the Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific championship in Singapore.
Atthaya became the youngest winner of a professional golf tournament in July last year when she won the Ladies European Thailand Championship in Pattaya.
Also at even par was Pannarat Thanapolboonyaras, a stroke ahead of Kanyalak Preedasuttijit who has a late tee time. Third-year pro Wichanee Meechai and Sherman Santiwatthanaphong are at 2 over, which is the projected cut line.
