Jeeno Thitikul uses back nine birdie spree to seize Lotte Championship lead

Germany’s Polly Mack, South Korea’s Ina Yoon, Italy’s Carolina Melgrati, Sweden’s Maja Stark and Japan’s Miyu Yamashita are battling for the Lotte Championship in Hawaii after 54 holes.

But they’ll all have to get overcome and get past Thailand’s Jeeno Thitikul if they want to reach the winner’s circle at Hoakalei Country Club on Sunday.

The No. 2-ranked Thitikul gained separation from Mack —her playing partner and second round co-leader — and the rest of the field on Saturday’s third round by shooting a 5-under 67 that included five birdies on her back nine.

“At No. 10, I started seeing the ball fall in the hole and that kickstarted some momentum,” said Thitikul, who birdied the first three holes after making the turn and finished birdie-birdie at holes Nos. 17 and 18.

She carries a three-shot lead over Mack and Yoon heading into Sunday final round, where she’ll be playing for her fourth tournament victory of 2026.

Her only blemish over the first three rounds came on Saturday when she bogeyed the par-4 7th hole.

“I put it in the water once,” said Thitikul of her lone bogey of the week. “First couple of holes I drove it really well, I just couldn’t get the putt to drop in.”

As much international flare sits atop the Lotte Championship leaderboard, Moving Day was surprisingly defined by Americans.

Hailee Cooper, Yana Wilson, and Lilia Vu all got into the clubhouse with bogey-free rounds.

Cooper, who birdied three straight holes on both her front and back nines on Saturday, carded an 8-under 64 that saw her leap into the tournament’s top 10 after barely making the cut a day prior.

Despite carding a bogey-free 68 on Friday, the 26 year old said she had no idea her breakout round was coming.

“This year has been really, really hard, really tough. I was playing really well the last couple events but just wasn’t coming together, so kind of my last hurrah trying to do well,” Cooper told reporters, adding she made it to the weekend thanks to a second round 30-foot birdie putt that got her to 3 under.

LOTTE Championship - Final Rd

Watch the final round of the LOTTE Championship at Hoakalei Country Club in Oahu, Hawaii.

Friday’s cut was made at 2 under.

“The first day I was really struggling with picking a line,” Cooper added. “Today it was more like I kind of saw a field goal a little bit in between ball marks so something.

“So just picking a better line. My speed was a lot better today than the last two days, so that helped a little bit.”

As for Wilson, the 20-year-old LPGA rookie won the Dow Championship along with Gina Kim earlier this year.

Her career low came Saturday in Hawaii, where she started birdie-birdie before going on to card a 6-under 66.

“I actually was hitting it really good the last two days but I couldn’t putt to save my life, so I feel like I just made more putts today,” said Wilson, who noted that wind was more of a factor than it was the previous two days on the course. “I feel like there were more holes that were playing kind of into the wind, so I feel like I did have a couple longer clubs into my approaches.”

Wilson believes she could have gotten lower — perhaps reaching Cooper’s low-round score of 64. Instead, after 54 holes in Hawaii, she sits tied with Cooper at 11 under.

“I wouldn’t say I was disappointed with my 66, but definitely could have been lower,” she told the media.

Stark got in at 13 under, a shot above Vu for the clubhouse lead at the time. The two-time LPGA winner and 2025 U.S. Women’s Open champ sits T-3 with Melgrati and Mack entering Sunday, while Vu is T- 6 with Yamashita and China’s Michelle Zhang.

The 28-year-old Vu also pointed out the wind as being a factor, highlighting it was blowing in a different direction on Moving Day than the previous two rounds.

“I’ve made a really big turn over the last couple weeks — I don’t know what it is, but I think it was partially swing technique that’s like helping with me trusting my body and I’m hitting it a tad bit further, which to me has been like my kryptonite,” she explained. “For the past two years I’ve been searching for something.

“Then I don’t know, it’s all clicking now and I’m able to not think so much about my swing and just play golf,” added the two-time major champion and former world No. 1. “I’m looking back at what I did today and didn’t seem like I was thinking about much.”