Chandler, Arizona – Lilia Vu wasn’t feeling the best in her range. She made up for it on the golf course at an 8-under 64 on Friday, leading the group two-shots, including Nelly Corda and Gino Chitickle in the Ford Championship, packed with LPGA stars.
Korda and Chitickle, the number one and two players, respectively, in the Women’s World Ranking, were grouped in the morning and held quite a few shows at the Whirlwind Golf Club.
Thitikul had a birdie bye di and Eagle bye di starting, bringing six holes to six under. She shot 29 in opening nine, with Korda at age 31, Chitickle being rolled up at 64 and Korda at 65.
“It was like a great tempo. We kept the rhythm really clean,” Korda said. “When everyone is playing well, you feed each other too.”
The Ford Championship was the first domestic LPGA event since the Asian Swing (Corda skipped for the second year in a row), and the field is as strong as this aspect of the majors, with 19 out of 20 in the world.
Vu, a double major winner in 2023, who struggled due to a back injury last year, said she was stressed by the range and her caddy calmed her down. He tells her to choose a target, but that’s as easy as Vu made it look.
She goes on weekends at 14 under 130 without making a bogey.
“We focused on the shot right in front of us, and we reached point B from point A,” Vu said. “It really helped me. For some reason, it happened to play well. Everything felt like it was digging the groove in the right place.”
After spending his first day at age 63, it was hard to find light winds to pick up in the pleasant weather in Arizona. She was even Paar over six holes – which meant losing the ground on this day, and gathered for 69. However, she only made one birdie on a 4-par 5 and joined Korda, Chitickle and Nanna Koertz Madsen at 12-under 132.
“I’ve played some really good chips out there and even some good saves solidly. I’m looking forward to this weekend,” Hal said.
The cut was 4 under 140. This is a good score for the course with solid, resilient greens that make birdies difficult to watch easily. Thitikul and Vu relied on many medium-length birdie putts.
Lydia Ko was one shot above the cut line when the Olympic gold medalist finished Birdie Eagle By-Die and took it within five shots of the lead over the weekend.
“I scratched my head with the 11th thought just how solid the course was. I didn’t, but just how solid the green is, it can be really hard to get really close to the pin.
“You have to keep your head high and hit one shot at a time,” she said. “I think that led to a good finish today.”
Brooke Henderson opened at 65, shot 75, two shots from the lead, and cut the numbers.