Lilia Vu birdied three of her first four holes on Friday and grabbed a two-shot lead at the midpoint of the Ford Championship in Chandler, Ariz.
Vu matched the best score of the day, an 8-under-par 64 at Whirlwind Golf Club’s Cattail Course, to move to 14-under 130.
Four players are tied for second at 12 under: world No. 1 and defending champion Nelly Korda, who shot a 65 on Friday; first-round leader Charley Hull of England (second-round 69); Denmark’s Nanna Koerstz Madsen (68); and Thailand’s Jeeno Thitikul (64).
Japan’s Ayaka Furue (68) and South Koreans Sei Young Kim (69) and Ina Yoon (69) share sixth place at 10 under. Eight players are at 9 under, tied for ninth.
Vu didn’t expect the hot start to what proved to be a bogey-free round. She wound up hitting 10 of the 14 fairways and 16 of 18 greens in regulation.
“I know I was a little stressed on the range and my caddie could kind of tell, and so he told me, we’re just going to stick to or start lines today and then I’ll handle everything. So I trusted him in that sense,” Vu said.
“I think that really helped me going into the round, and just focused on the shot in front of me and getting from point A to point B. That really kind of helped me. So, yeah, somehow just happened to play well. Felt like everything was grooving in the right spot.”
Thitikul began the day with an even better run than Vu. Starting on the back nine, she went birdie-birdie-eagle-birdie. The eagle came on the par-5 12th hole. She added four birdies and one bogey (at the page-4 fourth hole) the rest of the way.
“I didn’t have like a good confidence before coming here with my putter much, but like I think for this (second) round I putted really well,” Thitiul said. “… I think this is kind of a short course where we can play (to a) low score.”
Korda was 5 under at the turn after playing the back nine first. She added three more birdies and her lone bogey.
“Slowed a little down on the back nine, but the wind picked up a little,” Korda said. “It was starting to play a little bit firmer. So in the mornings the greens are definitely a little bit more receptive so you can be bit more aggressive. Then once the … heat kind of starts to play a factor, you have to be a little bit more timid.”
–Field Level Media
