Wannasaen breaks out of swing funk to shoot 63, take Kroger Queen Metropolis lead
MAINEVILLE, Ohio — Chanettee Wannasaen broke out of a swing funk to shoot a 9-under 63 and take a two-stroke lead Thursday within the Kroger Queen Metropolis Championship.
Wannasaen holed out a 9-iron shot for eagle on the par-4 tenth and had seven birdies in her morning spherical at soggy TPC River’s Bend.
“Truly, at the moment play actually good,” Wannasaen mentioned. “After AIG (Girls’s British Open), I’ve somewhat bit battle with my swing, so like I can not hit like a stable shot.”
The 21-year-old Thai participant has two LPGA Tour victories, the 2023 Portland Traditional and 2024 Dana Open.
American Gigi Stoll was second at 65. She performed the 4 par-5 holes in 5 underneath with an eagle on the eleventh and three birdies.
“I believe they’re somewhat shorter than common, so enjoying the par 5s effectively out right here goes to be an enormous benefit,” Stoll mentioned. “I simply received the ball rolling at the moment.”
Sei Younger Kim was one other stroke again with Patty Tavatanakit, A Lim Kim, Peiyun Chien, Kumkang Park and Jenny Bae.
Second-ranked Nelly Korda topped the group at 67. She’s trying to find her first LPGA title this yr after profitable seven instances in 2024.
“Made a pair putts right here and there,” Korda mentioned. “Total, simply sort of all the things was flowing and the climate was nice. There was actually no wind. So with sort of the saturated situations, somewhat softer, you might be somewhat bit extra aggressive.”
Charley Hull opened with a 68. She’s coming off a runner-up end in Houston as a part of the Aramco collection on the Women European Tour.
“I performed fairly stable final week and, clearly, now first week again on the LPGA carrying on into this week,” Hull mentioned. “Hopefully, we are able to go low over the subsequent few days.”
High-ranked Jeeno Thitikul shot 69, whereas Defending champion Lydia Ko opened with a 70.
Alison Lee had a 76 in her first begin since she gave delivery to a boy in April.
