Jeeno Thitikul opens with 64 in Women’s British Open in quest to finally win a major

LYTHAM ST. ANNES, England (AP) — Jeeno Thitikul took the first step toward the missing prize of her career Thursday when she opened with a 7-under 64 at Royal Lytham & St. Annes for a two-shot lead over Haeran Ryu and Shiho Kuwaki of Japan in the Women’s British Open.

Thitikul, one of only two players to have been No. 1 in women’s world ranking without ever having won a major, made three straight birdies early in her afternoon round and kept bogeys off her card the rest of the way.

The 23-year-old Thai has been overlooked during the LPGA major season dominated by Ryu and Nelly Korda, who have split the four majors. Korda, who replaced Thitikul at No. 1 in April, won the first two majors and Ryu won the next two.

Ryu put herself in good position to make it three in a row — not since Inbee Park in 2013 has anyone claimed three straight majors — with two birdies on her last three holes for a 66. She won the Women’s PGA at Hazeltine and closed with 60 to win the Evian Championship.

“I was so amazed, and I asked my caddie why I’m playing well this week,” Ryu said. “I think it’s because I’m more calm and enjoying the golf more, that’s why these days my golf is going pretty well.”

Korda has work to do. The dominant player through the first week of June, the American star missed the cut at Evian Championship in the most recent major, and she couldn’t atone for four bogeys in a pedestrian round of 73.

Thitikul had her best chance to win a major at the Evian a year ago when Grace Kim pulled off a stunning playoff victory. She’s yet to contend in a major this year, and she’s off to a great start in the final one.

“I knew that I haven’t won one yet, but I feel like I’m so young and then I still had I don’t know how many majors ahead of me,” Thitikul said. “I feel like one day it will come if I do my job.

“When I always step up in the major week I’m not really expecting to like win it because it’s just really out of my control,” she said. “What I can control is if I beat the course every day I should (have a) really good chance to be on the leaderboard.”

She got the best of Royal Lytham & St. Annes by avoiding so many of the pot bunkers that dot the landscape. She hit into a couple of greenside bunkers but managed to save par.

Thitikul has been around so long, even at her age, that she was low amateur in the Women’s British Open in 2018, the last time it was held at Royal Lytham & St. Annes.

“My strategy is beating my 15-year-old score,” she said. Thitikul shot 12-over 300 that week when Lytham played to a par 72, so that doesn’t look to be a problem.

Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., shot 72 to sit in a group tied for 37th, while Vancouver’s Anna Huang fired a 75.

Kuwaki, who has won twice this year on the Japan LPGA, playing in only her seventh LPGA major. She also had three straight birdies on the front nine and dropped only one shot.

“I managed my game well despite the strong winds and I was able to hole some key putts,” she said.

Celine Boutier and Yealimi Noh each shot 67 and were three behind. Charley Hull, another player often reminded she has yet to win a major, was in the large group of players at 69. Adding to pressure on Hull is playing in her home country.

“But I missed quite a few putts today that I felt I should have holed, but I felt like I stayed in there pretty well considering how nervous I was, because I feel there was a lot of pressure on me out there,” Hull said.

Also at 69 was Spain’s Paula Martin Sampedro, a senior at Stanford who last year won the Women’s British Amateur. She was challenging for the lead until a pair of late bogeys, the last one on No. 18 that cost her a chance to tie the amateur record in the Open.

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The Associated Press