Chon Buri: Thai rookie Natthakritta Vongtaveelap shot a seven-under-par 65 in the second round to claim the halfway lead at the Honda LPGA Thailand at Siam Country Club on Friday.
The 20-year-old upstaged a number of top stars including world No.1 Lydia Ko and No.2 Nelly Korda in the US$1.7 million (approx 62 million baht) tournament in Pattaya.
Natthakritta turned professional in November and is playing in her first LPGA event after winning the qualifying tournament last month.
She had a two-day total of 132, one shot ahead of Sweden's Maja Stark who was on 133 after a 67.
"Today I played really well. I hit my tee shots really straight, so it was easier on the second shots. I also putted great today, especially on the back nine. The front nine had a bit of ups-and-downs. I'm not sure why that was the case," Natthakritta said.
Commenting on her first LPGA event as a rookie, she said: "That is really cool. I was excited and nervous to play in front of Thai people and fans. This is my first time [on the LPGA Tour], so it's a big deal for me."
Jaravee Boonchant, another Thai rookie who held a share of the first-round lead, hit a 69 for 134, two shots off the pace.
She was joint third with four other players including American Korda (66) and Thai-French Celine Boutier (66).
Top-ranked Ko, the New Zealander who has been in red-hot form, was four shots off the lead in a share of 15th with Thailand's Atthaya Thitikul and Danielle Kang of the US.
"The front nine was kind of tough. I didn't hit many fairways. I put myself in positions that made it hard to find the greens, but I was able to do it and I just kept fighting hard," said Jaravee.
"I was trying to relax and play as well as I could. Overall, I'm pretty happy with how I finished today."
Boutier said: "I feel it's almost like my second home. I still have a little bit of family here and so it's always nice to come back. It definitely feels nice to be playing well here.
"I worked a lot on my long game. But coming back from the off-season, I didn't feel very comfortable until now, and I feel like I'm just getting back into the groove this week, so it feels nice to be able to hit it close again."
Stark was pleased with how she handled the occasion after grabbing second place. "I've been trying to get better at handling nerves, but I feel like I'm going to have nerves the whole weekend, so I'm just going to keep playing aggressively anyway," she said.
Nelly Korda's sister Jessica won the 2018 Honda LPGA Thailand and she hopes to take home a matching title.
"It would be great. Still 36 holes away from that," said the 24-year-old Olympic champion.
Thailand's Pornanong Phatlum fired a 65 to stay on 135 along with major winners Yuka Saso, Anna Nordqvist and Georgia Hall.
