It wasn’t the follow-up to her great opening round that Ashleigh Buhai wanted, but she hung on grimly on Friday was a one-over-par 73 in the second round of the LPGA Tour’s Kroger Queen City Championship at TPC River’s Bend in Maineville, Ohio.
Buhai started her round on the 10th, and she made three birdies and a bogey to turn in two-under. But a bogey immediately after the turn on the first started her homeward nine on a tough note, and she couldn’t pick up any birdies. Instead, she dropped two more strokes on the seventh and eighth.
At six-under through 18 holes, she was six behind the lead held by Jeeno Thitikul of Thailand. Thitikul led by one from Lydia Ko of New Zealand. After Ko came in from the morning wave with a six-under 66, Thitikul shot the same in the afternoon.
While Thitikul is searching for her second win of the season, Ko is chasing her third, and that doesn’t include her gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics. After winning the season-opening Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions, Ko’s win in Paris earned her the final point she needed for induction into the LPGA Hall of Fame. She capped off the summer with her third major championship victory at the AIG Women’s Open and, now, she is in the hunt for another win in Ohio.
Paula Reto missed the cut after a one-over-par 73 in the second round.
