Staff WriterThe Kroger Queen City Championship has turned into a proper Cincinnati slugfest, and Charley Hull is swinging with intent.
The English star carded six birdies and a lone bogey on Saturday to grab the 54-hole lead at 16-under-par, her eighth time holding the pole heading into Sunday. History says she’s dangerous here: five of those eight occasions ended with her name etched at the top or tucked just behind it.
“I felt like I just played solid. Just kept it going out there. Kept playing steady golf and made a nice birdie to finish,” Hull said, summing it up with the casual air of someone ordering coffee, not trying to end a 1,077-day win drought.
Hull’s game was equal parts muscle and touch. She led the field in driving distance on moving day at 300.5 yards, and she’s needed just 79 putts through three rounds — sixth-fewest of the bunch. If her putter stays warm, the rest of the field may need smelling salts.
Thitikul a Shot Back
Just one stroke behind is Thailand’s Jeeno Thitikul, who has made more birdies (18) than most of us make excuses. She finally blinked on Saturday with her first bogey since Thursday, but otherwise kept the pedal down with five more red numbers.
“I think it’s going to be another challenging day for sure,” Thitikul said. “As you can see the course and as you can see all the score, everyone can go low and then the course is makable. And then if you really want to win, so you had to make birdies.”
Victory would hand her a sixth career title and make her the first Thai player ever to win the Kroger Queen City Championship.
Rising Rookies from Japan
Two Japanese rookies, Miyu Yamashita and Chisato Iwai, are lurking at 14-under. Yamashita rattled off seven birdies in her third round, while Iwai didn’t drop a single shot and missed just one fairway all day.
“So front nine I had a difficult lie and saturated green. But I had pretty good shot and hitting very well so that’s why I think I had a good score,” Yamashita explained.
Iwai, meanwhile, kept it simple:
“Yeah, so they are a lot of birdie chance, and I made it, and my putting pretty good, and the swing also better than yesterday. Overall just a good day.”
Both already have wins this season, and both could put themselves in the middle of the Rookie of the Year race with another on Sunday.
Big Moves from the Pack
At 13-under, a logjam of contenders is ready to pounce. Yealimi Noh rocketed from 31st to a share of fifth with an 8-under 64, while Bianca Pagdanganan went bogey-free with six birdies, bringing her birdie total to 18.
“I was hitting it very well, putting it very well,” Noh said. “Had a lot of good looks… everything kind of fell into place today.”
Mary Liu eagled her way into contention and has needed only 77 putts all week — second-fewest in the field — though she admitted, “I don’t know. I have no experience. I better ask coach.”
And then there’s Nelly Korda, the world No. 1, who sits menacingly close. With an eagle, three birdies, and a bogey, she now leads the field in total birdies (19) and is second in driving distance at 293 yards.
“There is nothing better than being in the hunt contention and feeling that adrenaline,” Korda said. “Going to try and work as hard as I possibly can to get into at that position tomorrow.”
Defending Champ Fading
Defending champion Lydia Ko is well back at T29, though even she has managed only three bogeys through 54 holes.
Seventy-seven players survived the cut at 2-under, while Fiona Xu, Karis Davidson (illness), and Lauren Morris (injury) withdrew.
Sunday Shootout
The leaderboard at the Kroger Queen City Championship looks primed for chaos. Hull is chasing her third career win — and first since 2022 — but Thitikul, Yamashita, Iwai, and Korda all have enough firepower to rewrite the script.
One shot. Four countries. Dozens of birdies. Sunday at TPC River’s Bend should be one for the popcorn.
