World No. 2 Jeeno Thitikul said the last two days with Nelly Korda and Lydia Ko at the Kroger Queen City Championship were full of speed, fun, and a chance to compete for the trophy.

Thitikul spoke on Friday after her second round at Maketewah Country Club, where she was tied near the top with 12 birdies through two rounds while playing alongside world No. 1 Korda and world No. 9 Ko.

Thitikul spoke candidly about the experience of sharing the course with Ko and Korda.

"It was great. It was one of the, you know, my favorite group to play," Thitikul said. "Nelly is playing fantastic golf and then also she playing fast, too, so extra love it. And also Lydia is always one of my sweetest older sisters in the Tour for sure."

Thitikul sees the grouping carrying into the weekend, too. "Like on the final round you might see all these girl in last couple group for sure," she said.

Korda and Thitikul have combined for five titles this season, including the last three LPGA Tour events. Thitikul arrived in Cincinnati fresh off her second win of the year at the Mizuho Americas Open in New Jersey and later spoke about competing the following week.

"I think it feel more comfortable, more than like another win that I have," Thitikul said. "I think what I have been focusing here is my swing thought, because I haven't felt that good, good in my swing thought in the beginning of the season."

She identified a laid-off backswing as the issue and has been working to correct it. "Yeah, I trying to focus on my backswing," she said. "I had a little bit of laid-off backswing in the beginning of the year."

Maintaining a high birdie count is vital in a field featuring 16 of the world's top 20 players.

Jeeno Thitikul Chasing The Title in a Field Stacked With the World's Best

The Kroger Queen City Championship brought many of the world's best players to Maketewah Country Club this week, including seven of the top 10 and 16 of the top 20 players in the world.

Korda did not play in last week's Mizuho Americas Open. Her return in Cincinnati marks the first time the world's top two players have competed in the same tournament since the Chevron Championship.

Ruoning Yin, who finished second behind Thitikul last week in New Jersey, is currently ranked No. 4 in the world.

"I think this week will be my fifth runner-up in 19 months," she said. "I just think something cool is going to happen. I just don't know when."

Charley Hull, Miyu Yamashita, and Lottie Woad round out the top 10 in the field. Yin has finished runner-up in her last two starts.

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Written by

Sneha Abraham

Edited by

Pulkit Prabhav