Thailand's Atthaya Thitikul shoots 61 to lead the LPGA’s Walmart NW Arkansas Championship

Atthaya Thitikul Photo LPGA Getty Images

Rolex First-Time Winner Atthaya Thitikul took the biggest advantage of Moving Day at the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship presented by P&G in Rogers, Ark.

The 19-year-old fired a bogey-free, 10-under 61 to tie the 18-hole tournament scoring record first set by major champion So Yeon Ryu in 2017 and now has a one-shot lead heading into Sunday.

The 61 is the lowest round of Thitikul’s LPGA Tour career, besting her previous record of 63 by two shots, and her 36-hole total of 128 is also a new career-low, three shots better than the 131 she recorded at the 2021 Honda LPGA Thailand.

After going out in 32 on the back nine, Thitikul absolutely torched the front nine, finishing eagle-birdie-birdie to cap off the record-tying round – 18 holes that saw her mind just go “blank” as she was playing.

“I had a really good game even yesterday, but I just didn't make the putt that much,” said the rookie, who needed just 26 putts to get the job done on Saturday.

“I hit a fairly good shot and then just keep rolling the ball, patient, and make the putt more than yesterday. I think my mind went blank and just nothing there. Just hit a shot, just tap it in, putt it in. Like totally blank. I think when I play really good golf or shoot like really low score my mindset is like blank. It's really good to keep that blank mind for tomorrow.”

It’s the first time in Thitikul’s young career that she’ll sleep on the 36-hole lead or co-lead, but she isn’t any stranger to being in contention on Sunday.

She became a Rolex First-Time Winner earlier this season at the JTBC Classic presented by Barbasol after defeating Nanna Koerstz Madsen in a playoff at Aviara Golf Club.

When asked what it would mean to capture her second win in such a short amount of time, the 2022 rookie gave a Tour veteran’s answer.

“I think everyone that plays out here wants to win; I want to win as well,” said Thitikul. "Every week that we play we want to win, and just like if it's your day, it's your day, like I said every single time. If it's not, then it's not. But if I can win tomorrow, which would be my number two on the Tour, it's going to be pretty special.”

Pornanong Phatlum the Thai veteran is tied in 13 position, having shot a very respectable round of 65.

Khun Waen as she is known has been having a better second half to her season and hopefully will get into that all-important top 80 players for the 2023 season.