Jeeno Thitikul takes advantage of changing weather for a 69 to open 3-shot lead on LPGA

WEST CALDWELL, N.J. (AP) — Jeeno Thitikul took advantage on a friendly change in the weather Friday and closed with four birdies over her last seven holes to build a three-shot lead in the Mizuho Americas Open.

Jennifer Kupcho shot 69 in the morning, finishing with a 15-foot par save on the par-4 18th that was playing more than one shot over par for the early starters. The greens were firm and the rough was thick, putting a premium on par.

Thitikul experienced that when she didn’t make a birdie until her eighth hole, the par-5 17th. But then Mountain Ridge got just enough rain to take some of the fire out of the course, and the wind seemed to leave town with the light rain.

“Luckily we don’t have much wind on the back nine after the rain came, and then the wind just like shut down,” Thitikul said. “Then we just lucky. If we got the breeze (like on) the front nine, I don’t think my number is going to be that low, for sure.”

She was at 8-under 136 going into the weekend with a chance to win for the first time this year, and the first time since losing her No. 1 ranking to Nelly Korda, who is not playing this week.

Conditions were so tough late in the morning that Lydia Ko had an easy time accepting her 75 that ultimately put her six shots out of the lead.

“Probably one of the rare occasions where you shoot 75 and you’re not like stressing out too much about it,” Ko said. “The greens are pretty undulating and you leave yourself in some positions above the hole and you don’t even know if you can hold it on the green at that point.”

Andrea Lee, who opened with a 66 for the first-round lead, had five bogeys in a six-hole stretch on the front nine. She didn’t make a birdie until the 16th hole and shot 79.

Kupcho got out of position on the 17th late in her round and made bogey on a par 5. The pin on the 18th was tucked over a bunker, making the approach difficult. She went into the sand, splashed out to 15 feet and rammed in the par putt. Kupcho has a serious demeanor when she plays, and she could not help but to break out into a big smile.

She also questioned some of the tough pin positions on knobs of undulating greens. And she had reason to think her 5-under 139 would hold up. It looked like it would, at least until some rain and the absence of wind late in the afternoon.

“Like 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, all of those pin placements were on the sides of a hill,” Kupcho said. “For the wind and the speed we’re playing the greens, I don’t know that they’re going to be playable this afternoon, to be quite honest.

“It’s a really hard golf course,” she said. “All of those greens on the back nine are also just more undulated, so there is nowhere to put the pins. It’s just a really hard greens and that’s what it is.”

Brooke Matthews had a 72 and was four shots behind, while Celine Boutier of France shot 68 and was five back at 3-under 141.

The cut was made to 50 and ties for this tournament, which features 24 top players from the American Junior Golf Association competing in a Stableford competition.

Among those missing the weekend were Charley Hull, Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., and Sei Young Kim. Henderson shot 75 after opening the tournament with a 74 to sit at 5-over par.

Also missing was tournament host Michelle Wie West, though that wasn’t a big surprise. This is her first competition in three years as she gets ready for her final U.S. Women’s Open next month. She followed an 82 with an 80, making birdie on her last hole.

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