For the third consecutive day, Thailand’s Jeeno Thitikul held her spot atop the leaderboard as she attempts to defend her title at the Mizuho Americas Open in West Caldwell, N.J.
Thitikul saw her three-shot lead after two rounds sliced to two in the third round on Saturday as she carded a 2-under-par 70 to finish 54 holes at 10-under 206.
France’s Celine Boutier followed up her 68 on Friday with a 67 to climb into solo second at 8 under. Korea’s Hye-Jin Choi (-7) and Allisen Corpuz (-6) produced the day’s low rounds at 66 to move into third and a share of fourth, respectively. China’s Ruoning Yin (68) and Australia’s Hannah Green (68) are tied with Corpuz.
Thitikul won the event last year at Liberty National Golf Club, but it was moved 27 miles northwest to Mountain Ridge Country Club this year.
Thitiful, who stands No. 2 in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings, bogeyed the second hole but made back-to-back birdies on Nos. 7 and 8 and posted a birdie on the par-5 17th to reach 10-under for the first time.
Thitikul has only missed six greens in 54 holes.
“I think maybe I just not, you know, expect the perfect shot just going in the hole,” she said. “I mean, I just pick my target or where I want to start the ball and I just commit and then hit the ball.”
Boutier bogeyed the first hole to fall back to 2-under, but went bogey-free from there while converting three birdies on each nine. The 32-year-old former Duke standout played the four par-3s in 3 under.
“I feel like I learn a little bit more each day on this course,” Boutier said. “I feel like today the conditions were a little bit more difficult at the end, but it was actually really calm the first, you know, like 12 holes or so.
“So I feel like it was playing slightly bit easier. I feel like I gave myself more birdie chances, which kind of helped a lot.”
Choi, who started the day tied for 13th, birdied five of eight holes in the middle of her round and sliced her number of putts from 36 on Friday to 29 on Saturday.
“I think it was because actually I really hit a lot of putts yesterday, but it was because the green was still hard and if I hit the second shot far to the pin, it was hard to make two putts,” Choi said. “…So I made lots of three-putts yesterday.
“Compared to yesterday, today I didn’t really have a long putt left, and I made a good save on the difficult putts, too.
Jennifer Kupcho (-3) and Brooke Matthews (-2), who started in second and third place, respectively, each shot 2 over 74 to fall out of the top nine.
