KUALA LUMPUR — Thailand’s Atthaya “Jeeno” Thitikul shot an 8-under par 64 on Saturday to enter a three-way tie for the lead after three rounds of the Maybank Championship golf tournament in Malaysia.
On Sunday she will be looking to win the tournament that she lost last year in an epic nine-hole playoff with Celine Boutier of France at the Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club.
But to do so, the Ratchaburi native will need to beat her best friend on the LPGA Tour, Ruoning Yin of China, who is also at 16 under par after three rounds, along with Ryu Haeran of South Korea.
Victory comes with a prize of US$450,000. Jeeno, 21, has already earned $1.8 million on the tour this year.
Jeeno and Yin teamed up in June of this year to win the Dow Jones Championship, a team format tournament. It was the Thai star’s first victory of the LPGA season, but she has ten top-10 finishes and one of the lowest scoring averages on the women’s top tour.
“It’s been like a heavenly week, to be honest,” Jeeno said on Saturday. “You know, (Kuala Lumpur) is close to Thailand and I feel like it’s a second home here. All the fans cheering out here, it’s really nice and amazing to be here. And then also the golf course, it’s one of my favourites so far.”
Second-round leader Maja Stark shot 70 and was in fourth place, two strokes behind the leaders. Defending champion Boutier was four strokes out and tied for fifth with American Marina Alex (71).
“Obviously it’s good to have memories and stuff, but also know I have to focus on what I’m doing and I feel like this course is pretty score-able so you have to go out there and be aggressive,” Boutier said.
On Sunday she will be looking to win the tournament that she lost last year in an epic nine-hole playoff with Celine Boutier of France at the Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club.
But to do so, the Ratchaburi native will need to beat her best friend on the LPGA Tour, Ruoning Yin of China, who is also at 16 under par after three rounds, along with Ryu Haeran of South Korea.
Victory comes with a prize of US$450,000. Jeeno, 21, has already earned $1.8 million on the tour this year.
Jeeno and Yin teamed up in June of this year to win the Dow Jones Championship, a team format tournament. It was the Thai star’s first victory of the LPGA season, but she has ten top-10 finishes and one of the lowest scoring averages on the women’s top tour.
“It’s been like a heavenly week, to be honest,” Jeeno said on Saturday. “You know, (Kuala Lumpur) is close to Thailand and I feel like it’s a second home here. All the fans cheering out here, it’s really nice and amazing to be here. And then also the golf course, it’s one of my favourites so far.”
Second-round leader Maja Stark shot 70 and was in fourth place, two strokes behind the leaders. Defending champion Boutier was four strokes out and tied for fifth with American Marina Alex (71).
“Obviously it’s good to have memories and stuff, but also know I have to focus on what I’m doing and I feel like this course is pretty score-able so you have to go out there and be aggressive,” Boutier said.
