Minjee Lee scorches in tortuous Texas heat in quest for third major at Women's PGA Championship
Minjee Lee will head into the weekend just three shots off the lead in her quest for a third career major at the Women's PGA Championship.
In scorching temperatures in Texas, Lee carded an even-par 72 in the second round to sit three shots behind world No.2 Jeeno Thitikul.
As temperatures pushed 40C aided by a stiff breeze for much of the day, as well as painfully slow pace-of-play – the final groups took nearly six hours to complete their round – merely surviving was the aim of the game on Friday local time.
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Minjee Lee is three off the lead in her quest for a third major. Getty
Lee, who won majors in 2021 and 2022, said not making silly mistakes will be key to victory. With the weather forecast predicting much of the same for the weekend, the Fields Ranch East course is only expected to get harder as it gets baked by the sun and wind.
"I think we kind of know what to expect now," the 29-year-old said.
"I think it will be whoever has the best recovery in this heat and also who doesn't make soft bogeys.
"It's been so hot and it's a really slow round, so you've just got to try and focus as best you can.
Lee signed for an even-par second round. Getty
"That's the person who is going to, at the end of the week, hold the trophy."
Only seven of the 156 players are under-par going into the weekend. There have been no bogey-free rounds, and the cut was at seven-over.
Despite having retired from touring full-time, Lexi Thompson will also head into the weekend in contention for her first major in more than a decade.
"Any time I tee it up I want to come out here and compete and win. I just want to make sure that I'm fully ready every time I tee it up," Thompson said.
Pos | Player | Score | Third Rd tee time (AEST) |
1 | A. Thitikul | -6 | 3.25am Sunday |
T2 | M. Lee (AUS) | -3 | 3.25am Sunday |
T2 | R. Takeda | -3 | 3.16am Sunday |
4 | L. Thompson | -2 | 3.16am Sunday |
T5 | SM Lee | -1 | 3.07am Sunday |
T5 | A. Kim | -1 | 3.07am Sunday |
T5 | C. Iwai | -1 | 2.58am Sunday |
AUSTRALIANS | |||
T25 | Stephanie Kyriacou | +3 | 1.22am Sunday |
T36 | Hannah Green | +4 | 12.28am Sunday |
T36 | Lydia Ko (NZ) | +4 | 12.19am Sunday |
T44 | Karis Davidson | +5 | 12.01am Sunday |
T68 | Hira Naveed | +7 | 9.37pm Saturday |
T68 | Gabriela Ruffels | +7 | 10.13pm Saturday |
T68 | Grace Kim | +7 | 9.55pm Saturday |
MC | Robyn Choi | +8 | |
MC | Cassie Porter | +10 |
"Yeah, I mean, it put my mind more at ease coming out here knowing that I'm not playing a full schedule, grinding week in, week out, and looking forward to the weeks off."
After an even-par round Thursday, Thompson was bogey-free in the second round until hitting her approach at the 18th into the bunker and couldn't get up and down.
The 30-year-old Thompson, who has said last year was her final one playing a full schedule, is in her seventh tournament this season, including all three majors so far, and indicated that she will play again next week before "a long time off".
Her only major victory was in 2014, though her 13 top-five finishes in majors since 2013 are the most by any player and among her 20 top-10 finishes in those events.
Lexi Thompson is in contention at the Women's PGA Championship. Getty
Thompson's last win in any tournament was in 2019. She said she is not yet allowing herself to think about what it would mean to win another major. She missed the cut at the US Women’s Open three weeks ago.
"It's just something that I’m going to take one shot at a time. When you get to thinking too far ahead of time it just gets to you, so I’m just really going to embrace the moment," she said.
"Come out on the weekend and just hope for the best, that’s all I can do."