Although she couldn’t match the stratospheric 10 under par with which she started the tournament, Japanese golfer Akie Iwai (-15) held her ground at the top of the leaderboard at the Honda LPGA Thailand this Friday. As in the first round, the player from the Prefecture of Saitama, who turns 23 next July, did not make a single mistake. However, her birdie production was slightly lower, allowing the leaderboard to tighten a bit more before the weekend.
Iwai carded a 67 and leads the tournament by two strokes over American Angel Yin (-13), who was extraordinary today with a round of 64, and three over Thai players Jeeno Thitikul (-12) and Moriya Jutanugarn (-12), who are looking to make their move in front of their compatriots. German golfer Esther Henseleit (-9), with a solid 67 in this second day of competition, rounds out a top 5 that leaves everything open in the Asian event.
Akie Iwai with this beauty to maintain her two shot lead 🙌 pic.twitter.com/J23l1ZEm8Q
— LPGA (@LPGA) February 21, 2025
This reduced field event has no cut. Although Spanish golfer Carlota Ciganda (-4) would have had no problem making it through after completing her second consecutive round under par. The Spaniard’s play, with 10 of 14 fairways, 14 of 18 greens in regulation, and an average driving distance of 274 yards, was much better than her score reflected. Especially due to two errors in the final stretch of her round.
The Navarrese golfer played the first nine in two under par, with three birdies, two of them on par threes showing extraordinary precision with her irons, and just one bogey. And just as she started the second half of the course, she added another birdie on the 10th, which continued with her last of the day on the 15th, placing her with an accumulated score of six under par, close to the top of the leaderboard. But her closing holes dampened her aspirations…
Back-to-back birdies to finish off Round 2 for Jeeno Thitikul 🔥 pic.twitter.com/q7jaLxahKw
— LPGA (@LPGA) February 21, 2025
A bogey on the par-three 16th and another unexpected one on the par-five 18th (yesterday she started the day with a double bogey on another par five) caused her to drop 16 places on the leaderboard. Thus, in the blink of an eye, she went from being close to the top 10 to falling to a tied 28th position. Her final score, once again signing for a 70, did not reflect her solidity at the Old Course of the Siam Country Club, but there are still 36 holes left to make amends.
