After 36 holes in Worley, Idaho and lots of movement on the Circling Raven Championship leaderboard, Thailand’s Chanettee Wannasaen is holding on to a one-shot lead heading into the final round. Wannasaen signed for a second-round, 4-under 68, and sits at 9-under for the tournament. The 19-year-old carded six birdies, the same as her first round, and a lone double bogey on Saturday. Sunday will be the first time the LPGA and Epson Tour rookie finds herself in the final group.
Paired with Wannasaen, and one shot back at 8-under, is Minji Kang. The Republic of Korea native has played in the final group before, last doing so earlier this season at the Hartford HealthCare Women’s Championship, and will lean on that experience to ease any nerves she might be feeling as she looks to close out the tournament on Sunday. “First of all, I need to not think of the results and enjoy,” said Kang. “I’ll also focus a little bit more than the other days.”
Like Wannasaen, Kang also signed for a 4-under 68 on day two. The current No. 10 in the Epson Tour’s Race for the Card started her round strong, carding four birdies on the course’s back nine and making the turn bogey-free. However, her three birdies on the course’s front nine either came immediately before or after a bogey to finish out her round. Despite having three bogeys on her card, Kang was happy with the end result when she walked off the course.
“I was trying to play aggressive, even though it was a bit windy on the front nine,” said Kang. “I had a good feeling with my irons, and I made some short putts. I had a good round today.”
Also in the mix, sitting in solo third, is Thailand’s Keera Foocharoen. The 23-year-old had one of the lower scores of the day, firing a 5-under, 67. She will tee it up on Sunday just two shots behind her fellow countrywoman, Wannasaen.
“It’s good that I get to wake up late,” laughed Foocharoen. “I’m glad that I get to play in the second to last group, but I’ll focus shot by shot, talk about something with my mom during the round, and try to smile a lot. That’ll help me play better.”
Foocharoen only had one blip on the card during the second round, carding six birdies and a lone bogey. Focused on her game, she says she didn’t know her score coming down the stretch and felt good walking off the final green.
A total of 66 athletes made the cut at 1-over, including defending champion, Jillian Hollis (-3). Jenny and Kristin Coleman, who sit at even-par and 5-under, respectively, also made the cut on their birthday with Kristin recording a hole-in-one on the par-3 7th hole from 170 yards. The final group is set to tee off No. 1 at 12:20 pm local time.
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