Jeeno Thitikul pulls away and leads Nelly Korda by 6 in LPGA finale

NAPLES, Fla. (AP) – Jeeno Thitikul made nine birdies for the second straight day, this time giving her an 8-under 64 that allowed the Thai star to pull away Saturday and build a six-shot lead going into the final round of the CME Group Tour Championship.

Thitikul, the No. 1 player in women’s golf, is one round away from sweeping all the awards on the LPGA Tour, along with the $4 million check for winning.

She has all but clinched LPGA player of the year and the Vare Trophy for the lowest scoring average, and could set an LPGA record depending on her closing round.

Nelly Korda shot a 65 and still lost ground. She was six shots behind, along with Pajaree Anannarukarn of Thailand, who also shot 65 on another warm, relatively calm day at Tiburon Golf Club.

Thitikul was at 22-under 196. She won last year at 22-under par, and made it clear that her work is not yet done.

“Trying to make birdies and birdies and birdies,” she said with a stress-free smile.

After a bogey on the par-5 opening hole, Thitikul ran off four birdies in a five-hole stretch to regain her momentum. And then she made four straight birdies on the back nine to seize control.

The final pairing will be the No. 1 and No. 2 players in women’s golf, but it still feels like a mismatch the way Thitikul has played this week.

“I was just trying to do the same,” Thitikul said. “Just trying to go for the fairway, trying to find the best that we can to get near the pin and then make the putt. Simple strategy.”

She already has made 24 birdies in her 54 holes this week. She has missed just five fairways and six greens going into the final round.

Korda didn’t plan on doing anything differently with a six-shot deficit on Sunday.

“You are out there competing hard and you’re trying to win, but you also have to not get too ahead of yourself and play the game,” she said. “Because if you start to get a little too ahead of yourself and push a little too hard, those mistakes do start to creep in and it’s not going to be beneficial.”

It’s her last chance to avoid her second winless season in three years on the LPGA. The exception was last year, when she won seven times, including a second major.

Anannarukarn was the 60th and final player to qualify for the season-ending tournament, where all 60 players had a chance to win the $4 million prize regardless of their ranking. She chipped in for eagle on the sixth hole and is making the most of her opportunity.

“Pretty cool,” she said. “Coming into this week 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. It’s awesome to see that the results are showing and moving to a good direction.”

Sei Young Kim, who played in the final group with Thitikul, had to settle for a 68 that left her seven shots behind in fourth place. Gaby Lopez of Mexico had the low round of the week, a 62.

But it all starts with Thitikul, who has a chance to join Jin Young Ko of South Korea as the only back-to-back winners of the CME Group Tour Championship.