CME Group Tour Championship: 3rd Round
Following the third round of the CME Group Tour Championship, Jeeno Thitikul and Angel Yin are tied for first at 15-under going into Sunday at Tiburón Golf Club. Thitikul carded a stellar round to move up the leaderboard and into a tie with 36-hole leader Yin, who recorded another round in the 60s to keep her name in the conversation for the $4 million winner’s prize.
Thitikul opened her round with a birdie on the par-5 1st hole and picked up two more birdies on Nos. 5 and 8 on the front nine to make the turn at 3-under. Bogey-free since her 11th hole in round one, she continued her streak through the back nine. Thitikul fired off three birdies on 10, 11 and 12 to reach 6-under for the day. She made four more pars in over her next holes before finishing her round with an eagle and birdie on 17 and 18, respectively, to card a 9-under 63, the lowest round of the week thus far.
“I know I’ve been in contention for a while. I think since FM (Championship) until now. I think all that I have done for the past, I think I going to the right direction to one day I can lift the trophy or it’s going to be tomorrow or not,” said Thitikul, who is in the lead/co-lead for the third time this season heading into the final round. “But I’m proud of what I have did. Because like Maybank, I just did the best I can do but (Ruoning Yin) just did really, really good job out there. Tomorrow it’s just depend on the — I just still believe that if it’s your turn, then it’s your turn. It’s just depend on the matter of time, and I also give it all, 100 percent every day being out there on the course. Whatever it’s going to happen tomorrow, I take it as a learning experience. It’s not about life or death. It’s just what we play, and then we just trying to improve yourself.”
Yin continued her consistent play this week with a third-round 67 that included an eagle, five birdies and two bogeys. Her Saturday round started slow, with pars on her first four holes, until she made a birdie (No. 5) and an eagle (No. 6) to jump to 13-under for the tournament. She made her first bogey of the day on No. 7 before making back-to-back birdies on eight and nine. She added two more birdies on the back nine, on the par-3 12th and par-5 17th holes, and recorded her second bogey of the day on 15th.
“Felt good. The course, honestly, I think is playing pretty tough, so happy with my score,” Yin about her third round. “I’m scoring still. Making some mistakes, but saving a bunch, so a lot of positives.”
Leaderboard
Both past LPGA Tour winners, Thitikul and Yin are in search of their second and fourth career victories, respectively. Thitikul won earlier this year at the Dow Championship with playing partner Ruoning Yin, and Yin became a Rolex First-Time Winner at the 2023 Buick LPGA Shanghai. The duo sits at 15-under going into the final round at the CME Group Tour Championship and stand at least three shots clear of their closest competitors.
Ruoning Yin shot a six-under 66 on Saturday to sit in solo third and is paired with Thitikul and A. Yin on Sunday. R. Yin will be looking for her fourth victory of the 2024 season and would become the second-winningest player of the 2024 season behind Nelly Korda, who has seven wins.
In addition to the CME Group Tour Championship title and $4 million winner’s check, several players are also trying to claim some of the season-ending LPGA Awards that are still up for grabs. The race narrows for the Vare Trophy as Haeran Ryu stands 0.000253 strokes ahead of Ayaka Furue. If Ryu shoots 68 or lower, Furue needs to tie or beat Ryu in her final round to win the Vare Trophy and claim the coveted Hall of Fame point. The second award to be finalized tomorrow is the Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year. Mao Saigo and Jin Hee Im are the two players in the running for the honor, and Im must finish fourth or better to have a chance at winning the award.
The 2024 LPGA Tour season all comes down to Sunday at the CME Group Tour Championship as the top-60 players in the Race to the CME Globe battle a share of the $11 million purse in Naples, Fla. Coverage will be available on NBC, Peacock and ESPN+.