CHANDLER, Ariz. — Lilia Vu didn’t feel her best on the range. She made up for that on the golf course Friday with an 8-under 64, taking a two-shot lead over a group that includes Nelly Korda and Jeeno Thitikul in a Ford Championship packed with LPGA stars.
Korda and Thitikul, the Nos. 1 and 2 players, respectively, in the women’s world ranking, were grouped in the morning and put on quite a show at Whirlwind Golf Club.
Thitikul had a birdie-birdie-eagle-birdie start and was 6 under through six holes. She shot 29 on her opening nine, with Korda at 31. Thitikul wound up with a 64 and Korda had a 65.
“It was like a great tempo. We kept our rhythm really nicely,” Korda said. “When everyone is playing nicely, you kind of feed off each other as well.”
The Ford Championship is the first domestic LPGA event since the Asia swing (Korda skipped it for the second straight year), and the field was as strong as it gets this side of a major, with everyone from the top 10 in the world and 19 out of 20.
Vu, a double major winner in 2023 who struggled because of a back injury last year, was feeling stress on the range and said her caddie settled her down. He told her to pick a target, and that’s about as simple as Vu made it look.
She goes into the weekend at 14-under 130 without having made a bogey.
“Just focused on the shot in front of me and getting from point A to point B,” Vu said. “That really kind of helped me. Somehow just happened to play well. Felt like everything was grooving in the right spot.”
Charley Hull, who led after the first day with a 63, struggled to get going as a light wind picked up in otherwise comfortable weather for Arizona. She was even par through six holes — that meant losing ground on this day — and rallied for a 69. But she made only one birdie on the four par 5s and joined Korda, Thitikul and Nanna Koertz Madsen at 12-under 132.
“I hit some really good chips out there and even some good saves and played solid. Just looking forward to the weekend now,” Hull said.
The cut was at 4-under 140, good scoring for a course that still features firm, bouncy greens that can make it difficult to get easy looks at birdie. Thitikul and Vu relied on plenty of medium-length birdie putts.
Lydia Ko was one shot above the cut line when the Olympic gold medalist finished birdie-eagle-birdie to get within five shots of the lead going into the weekend.
“Just with how firm the course is, I was kind of scratching my head on the 11th thinking, ‘Why does it feel like I had a poor ball-striking day?’ I didn’t, but just with how firm the greens are sometimes it’s really hard to get really close to the pins.
“I’ve just got to keep my head high and hit one shot at a time,” she said. “I think that’s what led to the good finish today.”
Brooke Henderson, who opened with a 65 and was two shots out of the lead, shot a 75 and made the cut on the number.
