JERSEY CITY, N.J.: Jeeno Thitikul of Thailand feels so much better when she sees putts going in, and Thursday was a happy occasion at the Mizuho Americas Open. She took only 26 putts, eight of them for birdie, in a clean start of 8-under 64 to lead by two shots.
Thitikul was bogey-free at Liberty National and had the advantage of playing in the morning with virtually no wind on the course across the Hudson River from Manhattan.
She finished strong, dropping a short iron into 5 feet on the 17th and judging the distance perfectly on the closing hole with a shot that stayed below the hole and left her only about 3 feet for birdie.
Celine Boutier of France ran off five straight birdies in the middle of her round to account for not taking advantage of the par 5s. She was at 66 with Hye-Jin Choi of South Korea and Lindy Duncan, who lost in a five-way playoff at the Chevron Championship two weeks ago.
“I think my putter working well, better than Chevron week,” said Thitikul, the No. 2 player in the women’s world ranking.
She opened with rounds of 71-75 at the Chevron Championship, the first major of the LPGA season. Thitikul took off last week and devoted a lot of time to her putting, almost to a fault. She found her emotions going all over the place depending on the result.
“First couple days I’ve been back home and I putt a lot, a ton,” she said. “I feel good when I see it drop but I feel bad when I see it miss. ... And I was like, ‘No, you can’t be like this.’ It’s in or it’s not. It has to be the same feelings and emotion.
“I just going to putt less and think less. That’s pretty much I want to do,” she said. “Because mental-wise, pretty important to see all putts in. I don’t want to be so tight and tense.”
Besides, she felt the greens were tough for everyone at the major.
“We’re here, hit it good, and also making the putts,” Thitikul said after her 11th round of 64 or lower over the last four seasons.
Defending champion Nelly Korda had six birdies — three of them on the par 5s — to account for a few bogeys on her front nine and finished in the group at 68.
Korda, the No. 1 player in women’s golf by a big margin, has yet to win this year. She won the Mizuho Americas Open a year ago for her sixth victory of the season. Her game hasn’t been as sharp this year, and Korda is more interested in looking ahead.
“Just got to focus on what my game plan was last year — that was one shot at a time, not to get ahead of myself,” Korda said. “I know at the beginning of the year I had a lot to defend, but I think that instead of putting pressure on myself I should be happy that I was in that moment, that I did achieve all that great success. So just go out here and do what I love.”
The group at 67 included Haeran Ryu of South Korea, coming off a victory last week at the Black Desert Championship in Utah that elevated her to No. 5 in the world. Her round included a bogey on her final hole.
