Thidapa three shots off pace in Indy
Ariya also moves into contention while Park, Salas share clubhouse lead at rain-hit LPGA event
>> INDIANAPOLIS: Thidapa Suwannapura shot her second successive fiveunder-par 67 to move within three shots of leaders Park Sung-Hyun and Lizette Salas at the rain-disrupted LPGA Tour’s Indy Women in Tech Championship on Friday.
The Thai, who claimed her first LPGA title at the Marathon Classic in Ohio last month, shared fifth place with South Korea’s Amy Yang and American Angel Yin, who both had eight holes left, on 10-under 134 at the Brickyard Crossing Golf Course in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Thidapa dropped a bogey on the fourth hole after three consecutive pars but bounced back with three birdies to hit the turn at 34. She picked up three more birdies on the back nine.
Ariya Jutanugarn also moved into contention with her impressive sevenunder 65 on Friday. The world No.1 had eight birdies and just one bogey as she moved to nine-under 135 in a tie for eighth alongside South Korean Ko Jin-Young, who had nine holes to play.
Park took advantage of an early tee time to shoot her best round of the year on Friday and grab a share of the clubhouse lead.
The South Korean fired a nineunder 63 to finish in a tie with Salas at 13-under 131 as they completed their second rounds before heavy rains caused a four-hour delay.
“The best round of the year,” Park said through an interpreter. “My putting overall was what really helped.”
Salas, the first-round leader after a 62, had a 69 to match Park at 13-under. Danielle Kang (68) and Nasa Hataoka (69) were two shots back on 133.
“It was going to be hard to top that 62 yesterday but I stayed patient,’’ Salas said. “This was a completely different golf course, so I had to change my mentality a little bit and I had to forget about the 62 in a way and just go back to what I was doing.”
Park has two majors and four overall LPGA Tour victories the last two years, winning the US Women’s Open and CP Women’s Open last year and the Volunteers of America LPGA Texas Classic and KPMG Women’s PGA Championship this season.
Nothing rattled Park on a sticky, overcast day.
“I worked on my short game the most, especially measuring the distances,’’ Park said. “It paid off.’’
Park birdied three of the first five holes to reach seven under, started the back nine with three straight birdies then took the lead with her ninth and final birdie of the day on the par-four 17th.
Salas took a different tack one day after tying Mike McCullough’s record.
Rather than take advantage of the course’s soft greens, the American needed patience on Friday. She opened with 12 consecutive pars then made three straight birdies from No.4. After her first bogey of the tournament, on the par-four eighth, Salas closed out the round with another birdie to tie Park.
Defending champion Lexi Thompson started on the back nine and birdied the par-three 12th and the par-four 16th. She was six under with 10 holes remaining.