Charley Hull Leads World’s Top-ranked Player with 18 holes to Play At Warren County's TPC River’s Bend

By Amy Rogers 

HAMILTON TOWNSHIP, OH - “Pretty chilled,” were the words that 54-hole leader Charley Hull used to describe her round of 67 on Saturday to climb to the top of the leaderboard at the Kroger Queen City Championship presented by P&G. Hull has never been one to get pulled into the media’s attempts for her to dive into a technical analysis of her round, so instead she kept her post-round reflections simple and to the point, which is the same way she plays her golf.

“I just feel pretty chilled out there to be fair,” Hull said after her round. “Just kind of not even thinking about tomorrow. Looking forward to my fish tacos later tonight.”

(Photo credit LPGA & Getty Images) Leader Charley Hull

Hull leads world No.1 Jeeno Thitikul, who sits solo second and one-stroke back at 15-under par following her 68 on Saturday. Rookie Chisato Iwai and AIG Women’s Open champion Miyu Yamashita, both winners already this season, will each be trying to become the first multiple winner this season with a victory on Sunday. The duo each carded rounds of six-under par, 66 to climb to 14-under par for the championship and sit two-strokes off the lead. Nelly Korda’s closing eagle at the par five, 18th hole lifted her into a group at 13-under par along with Bianca Pagdanganan, Mary Liu, and Yealimi Noh.

Thitikul and Hull played in the final group alongside Channettee Wannasaen, the 36-hole leader. Hull’s length and power of the tee was clearly evident as she outdrove her playing partners consistently throughout the round, but she wasn’t able to use her length to her advantage early in the round as she failed to convert birdie opportunities at holes Nos. 1 and 2.

Hull strung together four consecutive pars to begin the round, and when she gave up a bogey at the par three, fifth hole she looked to be moving in the wrong direction on another scorable day at TPC River’s Bend. But Hull found her form at the par three, seventh hole where she rolled in her first birdie of the day and continued to stack birdies, making three in a four hole stretch between Nos. 9 and 12 to tie Thitikul atop the leaderboard.

The challenging par four, 17th hole would be the turning point in the round as Thitkul had taken control atop the leaderboard. She made her lone mistake of the day at the par four to give Hull, who made par, the outright lead for the first time at 15-under par.

With a chance to extend her lead at the closing hole, Hull reached the front of the 18th green in two but left herself a long eagle try that forced her to traverse from the front to the back of the green. The Englishwoman lagged her first putt to within six feet for birdie and rolled it in to maintain her one-stroke advantage ahead of Thitikul, who also birdied the 18th hole.

“Today, I think I do have a lot of chance to make a birdie, but my putter didn't come up today,” Thitikul said, needing 27 putts on Saturday. “I just think just the line and the speed wasn't that match, and then if I be able to, you know, make it kind of sync together should be good.”

Noh took Moving Day to heart and rocketed up the leaderboard with a round of 8-under par, 64 for the low round of the day. Noh began the day eight-strokes off the lead and in a tie for 31st and came to the par five, 18th hole with an opportunity to match the course record with a closing birdie. Noh sent her eagle effort nearly 12-feet past the hole and missed the comebacker for birdie, but she came away pleased with her round after missing the cut in five of her last six starts. Noh said after her round on Saturday that just making the cut helped to free her up mentally and gave her a boost in confidence.

“Just minor tweaks, a little bit on my swing, just getting a little bit more turn, flatter, and then just working on my putting, just getting the stroke dialed in,” Noh said about how she’s been fine-tuning her game coming into this week’s tournament. “Then just getting some rest after a couple weeks of a lot going on, so it's been good.”

Noh says that since securing her first career win on the LPGA Tour at the Founders Cup in her first start of the season, that the wear of the grinding travel schedule and the stress of contending week-to-week began to take its toll on her midway through the season, and contributed to her recent struggles on the course.

“It's a long season,” Noh said. “It's a lot; the travel, the stress and all the rounds and everything, it can add up. But I think just sticking to my routine, getting back to the basics, just keeping everything simple has helped a lot.”

Noh heads into the final round three back of the lead and with a chance to become the first multiple winner of the season.

Wannasaen, the first and second round leader, took a two-stroke lead into Saturday’s round but immediately stumbled at the opening par four, first hole where she made bogey after leaving her chip just off the putting surface well short of the hole with her third shot. Wannasaen’s driver let her down as she missed her fewest fairways of the week and was never able to get her day back on track as she gave up two double bogeys to drop into a tie for 20th with a three-over par round of 75 to sit six-strokes off the lead. 

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