With two days of competition complete at Highland Meadows Golf Club, Thailand’s Chanettee Wannasaen holds her first-ever LPGA Tour lead after 36 holes at 11-under. She carded a second-round 65, her second-lowest 18-hole score of the season, pairing it with her first-round 66 to record her new career-low 36-hole total of 131.
Starting her day in a tie for fourth, Wannasaen got off to a hot start, recording her first birdie of the day on the par-3 2nd hole. She followed that up with a bogey on No. 4, the lone blemish on her second-round scorecard, before going bogey-free the rest of the way.
She added another birdie on the third par-3 8th hole, turning in 33 at 6-under total. On the back, she added birdies on Nos. 11 and 14 to keep herself in contention. Wannasaen’s fifth and final birdie of the round got her to 9-under, one shot back of the co-leaders at the time, Linn Grant and Xiyu Lin. Highland Meadows’ final test, a pair of back-to-back closing par 5s, proved to be no match for Wannasaen as she birdied 17 before knocking her second shot on 18 with a 3-wood a few feet away from the hole, sinking her resulting eagle putt to propel herself to the top of the leaderboard.
“Today, I think on the front nine, I play not good either, but it's like birdie and then bogey and then par, par, and then birdie again,” Wannasaen said. “I think today is just like 4-under par for the day is enough. On the back nine, I played really good. The putter was really good on the back nine.”
Grant and Lin are both tied for second at 10-under after Wannasaen jumped ahead of them on No. 18. Lin had one bogey and five birdies in her second round, keeping her squarely in contention ahead of the weekend in Sylvania, Ohio. Defending champion Grant recorded eight birdies and two bogeys en route to a Friday 65 and giving herself a chance to be the first player to successfully defend her Dana Open title since Se Ri Pak won back-to-back in 1998 and 1999.
“I think it just reminds me a lot about how I play golf at my home course,” Grant said about why she has been able to capitalize on so many scoring opportunities. “The grass is very similar; ground feels similar; how I read the putts is very alike. It brings out just a joy of playing. And then also that I can play aggressive without being penalized too much when it doesn't go my way. It sets me up for some good momentum, and (I can) really get the birdies going.”
Six players round out the top five, including 2024 LPGA Tour rookie Mary Liu, who finds herself in contention for the first time in her young career, currently sitting in solo fourth at 9-under. Liu has made just four cuts in 10 previous starts this season and has not finished better than T35.
Five players are tied for fifth at 7-under total. Thursday’s leader Hye-Jin Choi ended her second round at even-par and fell down the leaderboard while reigning Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year Haeran Ryu improved her position by two spots after finishing her first round in a tie for seventh. Japan’s Mao Saigo jumped from T15 to T5 after recording a bogey-free, 4-under 67, and South Africa’s Paula Reto was primed to place herself among those at the top but bogeyed her final two holes to drop into a share of fifth. Australian Sarah Kemp rounds out the logjam tied for fifth at 7-under, propelling herself up the leaderboard from T15 with a second-round 67.
A total of 80 players made the cut at even-par, including fan-favorite Lexi Thompson, who on tournament-deemed Lexi Thompson Day carded a 2-under 69, sits in a tie for 50th at 1-under for the tournament.
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