Angel Yin, the 26-year-old from California, and Jeeno Thitikul, the 22-year-old from Thailand, made the biggest moves of the second round at the Honda LPGA Thailand, shooting terrific -8 64s to narrow their deficits on Akie Iwai.
Yin, who is now two strokes back on the rookie from Japan was dominant in every facet of the game, making nine birdies and one bogey on the day. Yin closed the day with birdies on four of her last six holes. On the day, she hit 13 fairways, 16 greens and only needed 27 putts. As is usually the case with Yin, the putter was a massive weapon, as she was confidently rolling putts in throughout the round.
Jeeno Thitikul on the other hand, got off to a blazing start in her home country. The No. 2 ranked player in the world birdied six of the first eight holes, which made it 10 out of the last 12 holes dating back to the end of the first round. While she cooled off on the back, she still birdied the final two holes of the day at 17 and 18. Thitikul, like Yin is one of the best putters in the world, and she showed it off with just 26 putts after hitting 16 greens in regulation.
The leader, Akie Iwai, still had a very solid round, with a clean scorecard that included five birdies and no bogeys. While she didn’t hit fairways or greens at quite the pace she was in the first round, she managed to scramble well enough to hold onto a three-stroke lead heading into the weekend.
Also in contention, tied with Thitikul, is Moriya Jutanugarn, who had her second -6 66 in a row. After a bogey on hole 11, Jutanugarn responded with four consecutive birdies.
The third round of the Honda LPGA Thailand continues Friday night.
