The determined Patcharajutar Kongkraphan fired an error-free 69 to cling onto the lead with a three-stroke advantage over Ornnicha Kornsunthea after round two of the Bt2.5 Million SAT-TWT Open – Road to World Ranking at the Royal Hua Hin Golf Club on Thursday.
The 30-year-old from Khon Kaen crafted three birdies (holes Number 1, 3, and 10) in a bogey-free round and remained atop of the leaders’ board following a total of seven under-par-137 under the high humid condition at the par 72 6,343 landscape.
“It was a good round and almost everything went according to my plan. There were some par 5 holes where I made mistakes. I should have read the greens better,” said the former LPGA player who eyes winning her first crown since her last victory at the Grand Prix Golf Club in Kanchanaburi 12 months ago.
In fact, Patcharajutar, nicknamed “PK”, came close to winning three times this season but fell short on all those occasions, having to be content in the second-best position at the Watermill Golf Club and Resort in Nakhon Nayok, Narai Hill Golf Resort and Country Club in Lopburi, and especially at the Singha Park Khon Kaen Golf Club where she lost to Wannasiri Sirisampant in a play-off a fortnight ago. She hopes to turn the tide as she plays in the final group on Friday morning.
“Deep in my heart, I really want to pull it off this time. It’s something that keeps bothering me. But with the way that I’m playing right now, I’m quite confident with myself. I need to be as solid as I can and seize the opportunity when it comes knocking on my door,” added Patcharajutar.
Lopburi-based Ornnicha, with four birdies against a lone bogey on the 13th hole, also carded a 69 to sit three shots back.
“I’m pleased with my putting game as I made a lot of crucial putts. About the final round tomorrow, I will try to play one shot at a time and stay calm. If I expect too much, that may do me no good,” said the 25-year-old Ornnicha who is seeking her first career title. Her best finish was a second in a Taiwan LPGA Tour in 2019 after losing a play-off.
Hometown girl Preenanphan Poomklay carded five birdies against two bogeys for a 69 and a two-day total of three under-par-141 which placed her at joint third with 34-year-old Nonthiya Srisawang who signed off with an even-par-72.
The 27-year-old Preenanphan said: “I’ve practiced here a lot but played well only once in the last All Thailand Golf Tour that (back then) still featured women’s event four years ago. This is a very tricky course and you need to develop a great short game to shoot scores.”
Preenanphan is in the hunt for her second professional win since winning on the All Thailand Golf Tour on this course back in 2018.
A total of 75 players made the cut at 14 over-par-158. Fans can catch up with news updates on ThaiWPGA Facebook Fanpage or at www.thaiwpga.com. Live streaming of the final round can be seen on ThaiWPGA Facebook Fanpage on Friday 15, July from 8 am onwards.
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About Thai WPGA
The Thai Women’s Professional Golf Association has been established with the objective to support and promote Thai women’s golf activities. The association aims at organizing a local tour with world ranking points in the near future which will pave the way for Thai golfers to the international arena. In addition, Thai women’s golfers can use the tour to develop their skills to meet the universal standard. Moreover, medium-proficiency level players can gain experience from Challenger tours which can help produce new generation players and at the same time develop golf human resources and systematic golf organization locally.
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