CHANDLER, Ariz. — After defending champion Nelly Korda and Thailand native Jeeno Thitikul were tied for the clubhouse lead following completion of morning play at Whirlwind Golf Club, two-time major champion Lilia Vu took control on Friday afternoon at the Ford Championship presented by Wild Horse Pass, firing a bogey-free, 8-under 64 to hold a two-stroke advantage with two rounds to play in the desert.

Vu began the day in a tie for 11th after posting a solid 6-under 66 in the opening round, and she came out swinging again early on day two, picking up a pair of back-to-back birdies on the par-4 1st and par-5 2nd holes to climb to 8-under quickly. She struck again on the par-4 4th hole to move to 9-under for the tournament and then made another birdie on the seventh hole to get to 10-under overall.

She grabbed one final birdie on the par-4 9th hole to turn in 31 at 11-under total and backed that up with a birdie on the par-3 10th hole to move to 12-under, matching the pace set by Korda and Thitikul early. Vu then took the solo lead after making her seventh birdie of the round on 12, and she parred her next four holes before carding her last birdie of the day on the par-5 17th hole to ultimately post a 64.

The 8-under effort is her first round of 64 or better since day one of the 2024 Ford Championship presented by Wild Horse Pass. Vu was pleased with her performance, considering she had to contend in some windy conditions late and felt a bit unsettled on the range this morning, giving a lot of credit to her caddie, Cole Pensanti, for getting her head back in the game.

“I wasn't thinking too much about the golf,” Vu said. “I know I was a little stressed on the range, and my caddie could kind of tell, and so he told me, ‘We're just going to stick to our start lines today, and then I'll handle everything.’ So, I trusted him in that sense. I think that really helped me going into the round, and I focused on the shot in front of me and getting from point A to point B.

“That really kind of helped me. So, somehow just happened to play well. Felt like everything was grooving in the right spot.”

It’s only the second time in her career that Vu has held the 36-hole lead or co-lead on the LPGA Tour, and it’s the first time that she has done so since the Portland Classic back in 2022. But at a low-scoring venue like Whirlwind Golf Club, no lead is safe, and the five-time LPGA Tour winner knows she is going to have to keep making a ton of birdies over the weekend in the Grand Canyon State if she wants a shot at her first Tour title since the 2024 Meijer LPGA Classic for Simply Give.

“I know that everybody in the field is just going to keep on making birdies,” said Vu, “so I’m just going to try my best and keep having the birdies drop.”

Four athletes are in a tie for second at 12-under total. Korda and Thitikul carded rounds of 65 and 64, respectively, while playing alongside each other in the morning wave, and Nanna Koerstz Madsen and 18-hole leader Charley Hull shot 68 and 69 to sit two shots behind Vu.

The afternoon winds made quite a difference for Hull in particular, who opened her week at the Ford Championship presented by Wild Horse Pass with a career-low 9-under 63, but the Englishwoman wasn’t too bothered about her 3-under performance, knowing exactly how challenging it can be to recreate a score as low as a 63.

“It's kind of hard obviously backing up a really good score the day before,” said Hull. “Then in your mind, you're thinking, ‘Oh, can I get to 60,’ do you know what I mean? I felt like I played pretty solid out there today. I holed some good putts, and I missed some that I probably should have holed, but it was a bit windy out there today. It was a little bit trickier on some of the holes, but I'm pretty happy with that and looking forward to the weekend.”

Rookie Ina Yoon is tied for sixth at 10-under with major champions Ayaka Furue and Sei Young Kim. Eight players are tied for ninth at 9-under, including 23-time LPGA Tour winner Lydia Ko, U.S. Women’s Open champion Allisen Corpuz and Epson Tour graduate Auston Kim. Seventy-four athletes made the cut at 4-under.

Lilia Vu Takes 36-Hole Lead at Ford Championship presented by Wild Horse Pass

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