WASHINGTON:
Two-time LPGA winner Chanettee Wannasaen holed out for an eagle on the way in which to a nine-under par 63 on Thursday to take a two-shot lead after the primary spherical of the Queen Metropolis Championship in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Thailand’s Chanettee added seven birdies in her bogey-free effort at TPC River’s Bend, the place American Gigi Stoll shook off a late bogey with a birdie on the final to submit a seven-under 65.
Chanettee’s spherical was highlighted by her eagle on the par-four tenth, the place she hit a “good shot” with a 9 iron from the golf green that discovered the underside of the cup.
“After I hit, I simply felt like, ‘Oh, this one goes to be near the pin,'” she stated. “I did not anticipate it should roll to the pin!”
The 21-year-old received in Portland in 2023 and captured the Dana Open final yr, however she’s been pissed off throughout a 2025 marketing campaign that included a tie for forty third on the Evian Championship adopted by a missed minimize on the Girls’s British Open.
After feeling in current weeks “like I can’t hit the ball” she checked in together with her coach final week and on Thursday had a confidence-boosting efficiency to indicate for it.
“Truly immediately I performed actually good,” she stated, including that she was stable with each membership in her bag. “I simply wish to proceed to hit like this till the tip of the yr.”
Stoll, chasing her first LPGA title, eagled the par-five eleventh and was seven-under earlier than a bogey at 17.
She rebounded with a closing birdie for a 65 that put her one stroke away from a gaggle of six gamers sharing third on 66.
That included 12-time LPGA winner Kim Sei-young of South Korea, who teed off on 10 and had three birdies in her first 9 holes earlier than she racked up 5 birdies and two bogeys coming in.
“I performed fairly stable, particularly again 9,” stated Kim, who was joined on six-under by compatriots Kim A-lim — who eagled the 18th — and Park Kum-kang together with Thailand’s Patty Tavatanakit, Taiwan’s Chien Peiyun and American Jenny Bae.
World quantity two Nelly Korda carded a five-under par 67 to headline a gaggle of 4 sharing ninth that additionally included Australian Gabriella Ruffels, Bianca Pagdanganan of the Philippines and Spain’s Julia Lopez Ramirez.
Thailand’s world primary Jeeno Thitikul opened with a three-under 69 and defending champion Lydia Ko of New Zealand carded a 70.
