Jeeno Thitikul holds a 6-shot lead over Nelly Korda and Pajaree Anannarukarn after three rounds of the CME Group Tour Championship. Thitikul sits at 22-under.
Thitikul followed her round of 9-under-63 on Friday with an 8-under-64 on Saturday to take a commanding lead. Her round started with a bogey on the first hole, but she followed it up by making birdie on four of the next five holes to get to 17-under. On the back nine, she birdied four consecutive holes starting at hole 11. Her score of 194 set the 54-hole tournament scoring record and is the lowest 54-hole score of her career. With a win tomorrow, Thitikul would join Jin Young Ko as the only players to win the CME Group Tour Championship back-to-back years.
Thitikul said, “I was just trying to do the same, like we had nothing to do. Just trying to go for the fairway, we trying to find the best that we can get near the pin, and then make the putt. Simple strategy.”
Korda shot a bogey-free 65 (-7) in round three. Her best stretch of the day came when she birdied four out of five holes on the back nine. She will be in the final pairing with Thitikul trying to chase her down for her 16th career win. They tee off hole 1 at 11:40am ET.
“ I think it’s good when the putts are burning edges. Let’s you know it’s just about a centimeter here and there for it to drop,” said Korda. “So it may be frustrating, but at the end of the day you can turn it in a positive twist. Yeah, it’s good to back up a solid round yesterday to today.”
Anannarukarn also shot a 65 (-7) that included six birdies, one bogey and one eagle. She was the last player to get into the field and is now looking for her best finish at this event since a 6th place finish in 2022. She is currently T2 with Korda.
“I think it was a good opportunity I got into this week and with how I’ve been playing this season I’m really happy how I’ve been playing,” said Annarukarn. “It’s awesome to see that the results are showing and moving to a good direction.”
Gaby Lopez had the round of the week so far after tying the tournament record of 62 (-10) set by Lydia Ko in 2016 at this event. On the front nine, she birdied seven holes, including four in a row starting on hole 6. She birdied three more holes on the back nine to shoot her lowest career round on the LPGA Tour.
“Today is a high and tomorrow we don’t know what’s going to happen. But, yeah, very proud of all the work we’ve put in during the year,” said Lopez. “Last year I missed CME. I was 61st for half a point. Today I’m standing here with an unbelievable round. I’m just trying to embrace it. I’m trying to enjoy it and, I don’t know, just be proud of the girl that still is trying to have fun out there.”
Tee times for the final round start at 6:50am ET and have been reshuffled according to score. You can watch starting at 1:00pm ET on NBC.
