Patty Tavatanakit takes 3-shot lead in Thailand

Patty Tavatanakit shot her second consecutive 64 to take a three-shot lead after 36 holes Friday at the Honda LPGA Thailand.

Tavatanakit capped her round with a 12-foot putt for an eagle on No. 18 at the Old Course at Siam Country Club in Chonburi, Thailand, where the heat index approached 100 degrees by the end of the round. At 16-under par, she tied the tournament's 36-hole scoring record set by Jessica Korda in 2018.

She is seeking her second victory of the season, having won the ANA Inspiration last month in Rancho Mirage, Calif.

Atthaya Thitikul, the 18-year-old who entered play Friday as the co-leader with fellow Thai Tavatanakit, shot a 67 and is 13-under par and alone in second on the leaderboard. She had four birdies and an eagle on the par-5 No. 7 before a bogey on the 17th hole.

Tavatanakit played a bogey-free day, sprinkling six birdies on the round before her eagle on the par-5 final hole. The 21-year-old has just four bogeys in her past 90 holes including play at the HSBC Women's World Championship last week, where she finished T2.

"Yesterday was probably a perfect day of ball striking, but today wasn't. Just goes to show that no matter how not perfect you are, you can still manage to get yourself together around the course to shoot low scores," Tavatanakit said after Friday's round. "My irons have been phenomenal since last week, and I think that's a huge part of my success so far. But off the tee here and there it's a driver, and there are more error to it with like more dispersion. ... I still feel confident going into the weekend."

Caroline Masson of Germany birdied four of the final eight holes to card her second straight 66 and is in third place at 12 under, followed by a group of three who are tied for fourth at 11-under: Gaby Lopez (64) of Mexico, Australian Lydia Ko (67) and Nanna Koerstz Madsen (68) of Denmark.

Ko started her second round with three birdies in the first four holes but lost momentum with a double bogey on the par-4 No. 5. She closed the round with five more birdies and a bogey.

"I started off really well. Hit my ball towards the rough. Wasn't actually that far where we should have been able to find it, but cameraman said it's in that kind of proximity and we couldn't find it, and it's pretty dark under the trees anyway," Ko said of her adventures on the fifth hole. "So unfortunate there, but I hung in there and made some good birdies. So, yeah, overall happy with the way I played today."

South Koreans Hee Young Park and Amy Yang, the defending champion, are joined by Ariya Jutanugarn of Thailand in a tie for seventh at 10 under.

--Field Level Media