Chanettee Wannasaen shot a 5-under-par 66 on Saturday to continue her blistering start at the Dana Open in Sylvania, Ohio.
The product of Thailand fired six birdies, including one at No. 18 to cap her round, extending her Friday lead from a single stroke to three. Wannasaen, who previously won the Portland Classic in 2023, now sits at 16-under 197 for the tournament.
Wannasaen has collected 17 birdies against just three bogeys over the first 54 holes.
“Yeah, I didn’t expect,” Wannasaen said. “But I really play well this week.”
On Saturday, Wannasaen got off to a steady start with birdies at Nos. 2 and 9 while posting pars the rest of the front nine. She quickly heated up with three straight birdies at Nos. 12-14 before a bogey at 16 and her final birdie at 18.
“I think I’m going to like don’t think about the result, because I don’t want to get stress for tomorrow,” Wannasaen said. “So like just stay in present time. Don’t think about the future.”
Wannasaen’s closest competitor is South Korea’s Haeran Ryu, who sits at 13 under after firing a 6-under 65 on Saturday.
Ryu suffered a bogey at the par-5 seventh, but seven birdies more than made up for that.
Defending tournament champion Linn Grant of Sweden fell an additional four shots off the pace with a 1-under 70, leaving her in a tie for third place with two other golfers — Ssu-Chia Cheng of Taiwan (66 on Saturday) and Xiyu Lin of China (70).
Grant finished an up-and-down day with four birdies and three bogeys. Lin rallied from a rough start — three bogeys through the first 11 holes — to score four birdies over a five-hole stretch (Nos. 14-18) on the back nine.
Meanwhile, Cheng had six birdies and a single bogey.
“I just stay patient out there,” Cheng said. “I didn’t really have the best start like today or even just like the past two days. I just kind of stayed patient out there and just one shot at a time.”
A stroke behind those three is another trio of golfers who are tied for sixth place at 10 under. That group includes Lucy Li (67), South Korea’s Hyo Joon Jang (64) and China’s Mary Liu (70).
Jang’s round tied Malia Nam’s (T12 at 8 under) for the best of the day.
Lexi Thompson, who had a flyover in her honor on Friday, sits in a tie for 40th after her 2 under on Saturday left her at 3 under for the tournament.
–Field Level Media
