WEST CALDWELL – Moving Day at the 2026 Mizuho Americas Open at Mountain Ridge Country Club saw some exciting golf played in both the LPGA and American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) fields.
While the wind was not as much of a factor on Saturday as it had been the previous two days, Mother Nature decided to throw another curveball at the golfers with rain starting while most golfers were on their back nines around 1 p.m.
The rain did not stop the highest-ranking golfer in the LPGA field, No. 2 Jeeno Thitikul, from holding off a challenge from No. 31 Celine Boutier and preserving her lead.
Thitikul shot her third consecutive round under-par, a 70, to finish the day at 10-under-par and with a two-stroke lead over Boutier.
The second-ranked golfer on the LPGA Tour described her mindset going into the final day of the tournament, where she has a chance to win her second tournament of the year.
I’m just surprising myself right now still that I don’t even think — I don’t expecting myself to be in this position with the game that I have yet. But, I mean, like it’s just golf. Just another day going in, you know, like another tournament, another 18 holes that I have tomorrow. It’s a new day, and I don’t know what’s going to happen, but I know I just going to let golf be golf and then let myself be committed to golf and then just go by the flow with it and then just give myself a lot of chances, another opportunities under my belt that I have in the final round again.
Boutier had a magnificent third round, shooting a 5-under 67 and pushing herself from the fringes to second place. After bogeying her opening hole, Boutier settled down by making six birdies and 11 pars the rest of the way to put herself in a great position to win her first LPGA tournament since 2023.
After her third round, the No. 31-ranked LPGA golfer, Boutier, discussed how she mastered the course after shooting over-par in the first round and progressively getting better as the tournament has gone on.
This course is very tricky because you can’t be too aggressive; otherwise, you can leave yourself some tough shots and tough putts. Sometimes you have to be a little bit conservative, and that’s kind of the way that you leave yourself the best chance of making a birdie. I feel like you have to be pretty smart and kind of like almost patient about it, because sometimes you’re tempted to go for things, but it’s not always the smartest choice. I feel like kind of learning which areas of the pin or like of the green you want to be on for your next is helpful.
Moving down the leaderboard, the most improved golfer from round two to three was No. 17, Hye-Jin Choi. She matched the low score of the day, shooting a 66 in the third round Saturday to place herself third heading into the final day. It was a nine-stroke improvement from the 75 she shot in round two.
Choi described her third round and what she needs to do in the final round to challenge for the title.
So, actually, this course, if I go too aggressive I can lose a lot of shots. And today I just tried to be little aggressive but not too aggressive…tomorrow if I have a hole and a chance I’m going to try to be aggressive.
No. 59 Allisen Corpuz also shot a 66 Saturday and birdied five holes on her back nine. She comes into Sunday tied for fourth place with No. 8 Ruoning Yin and No. 5 Hannah Green. Corpuz also played alongside AJGA golfer Alexandra Snyder, and she described what she saw from the aspiring professional.
It’s just awesome to see the next generation of women’s golf, like up-and-coming, and just how good they are. I mean, a few of their tee boxes were a bit of ahead of our, but for the most part, they’re basically playing the same course as us and keeping up. I was kind of telling Jay, I mean, our junior Alexandra, she hit this amazing flop shot on 17 to like a foot from the left side of the green. Yeah, it’s just really impressive to see how good they are.
Meanwhile, Chinese golfer Ruoning Yin remained in the hunt tied for fourth place despite triple-bogeying the 15th hole. She described how she powered through that adversity on her back nine.
Well, the bounce back after 15 was — I was happy about it, but I wasn’t happy about the triple. But I was happy about I can make a birdie straight after.
It will be an intriguing final round in the LPGA field with several golfers in the hunt to unseat Thitikul.
Deng Leading After Moving Day, Leads New Jersey Trio
Aphrodite Deng was the story of the third round in the AJGA field, as she shot a 40, which was the highest single score by a junior golfer all tournament.
In the third round, Deng did a great job of playing mistake-free golf. She carded six birdies, two bogies, and 10 pars, which showed remarkable consistency.
The Short Hills native touched on what contributed to her best score of the tournament.
I think the pins and conditions were a little easier today, even though it rained. I was just trying to put myself in the right positions, and if I make the putt, I make the putt. So I made a couple birdies out there, and it worked out.
With the 40 she scored in the third round, Deng now has an overall score of 110 heading into the final day, and she described how she’s viewing the challenge of attempting to win this event for the second year in a row.
I have a lot of confidence now, especially because last year I won. So I’m just going to go into tomorrow and just try it play the best I can.
Through 54 holes, Rayee Feng, also from Short Hills, has an overall score of 97 after shooting a 30 in the third round. Feng was flawless through the first eight holes of day three, making seven pars in a row to start the day and a birdie on the eighth hole, but then bogeyed four of her last 10 holes and had two double-bogeys.
Feng did grab a birdie on hole 17—the longest hole on the course at 520 yards. The reigning New Jersey high school state champion is tied for 12th on the AJGA leaderboard.
Vidhi Lakhawala from Kendall Park managed six bogeys, 11 pars, and a birdie to score 29 points on Saturday. It bears mentioning that in the modified Stableford scoring format being used for the AJGA field at the Mizuho Americas Open, bogeys still count for one point each.
Lakhawala is tied for 18th with an overall score of 93 heading into the final day.
Amelie Zalsman, who led the AJGA field after the second round, shot a 29 in round three—by far her lowest single score of the tournament. Thanks to the 39s she shot in the first and second rounds, Zalsman sits well within striking distance with an overall score of 107.
It should be an exciting finish in the AJGA field on day four with 10 golfers within 10 points of the leader, Aphrodite Deng.
For more scenes from the third round, view more of Christopher Shannon’s photos in our photo gallery.
On New Jersey Sports will have full coverage of the final round of the Mizuho Americas Open tomorrow.
