Jeeno Thitikul pulls away and leads Nelly Korda by 6 in LPGA finale

NAPLES, Fla. (AP) — Jeeno Thitikul made nine birdies for the second straight day, this time giving her an 8-under 64 that allowed the Thai star to pull away Saturday and build a six-shot lead going into the final round of the CME Group Tour Championship.

Thitikul, the No. 1 player in women's golf, is one round away from sweeping all the awards on the LPGA Tour, along with the $4 million check for winning.

She has all but clinched LPGA player of the year and the Vare Trophy for the lowest scoring average, and could set an LPGA record depending on her closing round.

Nelly Korda shot a 65 and still lost ground. She was six shots behind, along with Pajaree Anannarukarn of Thailand, who also shot 65 on another warm, relatively calm day at Tiburon Golf Club.

Thitikul was at 22-under 196. She won last year at 22-under par, and made it clear that her work is not yet done.

“Trying to make birdies and birdies and birdies,” she said with a stress-free smile.

After a bogey on the par-5 opening hole, Thitikul ran off four birdies in a five-hole stretch to regain her momentum. And then she made four straight birdies on the back nine to seize control.

The final pairing will be the No. 1 and No. 2 players in women's golf, but it still feels like a mismatch the way Thitikul has played this week.

“I was just trying to do the same,” Thitikul said. “Just trying to go for the fairway, trying to find the best that we can to get near the pin and then make the putt. Simple strategy.”

She already has made 24 birdies in her 54 holes this week. She has missed just five fairways and six greens going into the final round.

Korda didn't plan on doing anything differently with a six-shot deficit on Sunday.

“You are out there competing hard and you’re trying to win, but you also have to not get too ahead of yourself and play the game,” she said. “Because if you start to get a little too ahead of yourself and push a little too hard, those mistakes do start to creep in and it’s not going to be beneficial.”

It's her last chance to avoid her second winless season in three years on the LPGA. The exception was last year, when she won seven times, including a second major.

Anannarukarn was the 60th and final player to qualify for the season-ending tournament, where all 60 players had a chance to win the $4 million prize regardless of their ranking. She chipped in for eagle on the sixth hole and is making the most of her opportunity.

“Pretty cool,” she said. “Coming into this week I think it was a good opportunity I got into this week and with how I’ve been playing this season I’m really happy how I’ve been playing. It’s awesome to see that the results are showing and moving to a good direction.”

Sei Young Kim, who played in the final group with Thitikul, had to settle for a 68 that left her seven shots behind in fourth place. Gaby Lopez of Mexico had the low round of the week, a 62.

But it all starts with Thitikul, who has a chance to join Jin Young Ko of South Korea as the only back-to-back winners of the CME Group Tour Championship.

AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf

CORRECTS FIRST NAME - Pajaree Anannarukarn of Thailand looks at her shot on the second green during the third round of the LPGA Tour Championship golf tournament, Saturday, Nov. 22, 2025, in Naples, Fla. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)

Nelly Korda hits from the third tee during the third round of the LPGA Tour Championship golf tournament, Saturday, Nov. 22, 2025, in Naples, Fla. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)

Nelly Korda reacts to her shot on the 17th green during the third round of the LPGA Tour Championship golf tournament, Saturday, Nov. 22, 2025, in Naples, Fla. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)

Jeeno Thitikul of Thailand hits from the 18th fairway during the third round of the LPGA Tour Championship golf tournament, Saturday, Nov. 22, 2025, in Naples, Fla. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)

Jeeno Thitikul of Thailand waves as she approaches the 18th green during the third round of the LPGA Tour Championship golf tournament, Saturday, Nov. 22, 2025, in Naples, Fla. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Environmental groups on Tuesday asked a federal appellate court panel to drop its temporary halt of a lower court's order instructing state officials to close an immigration detention center in the heart of the Florida Everglades known as “Alligator Alcatraz.”

The Everglades facility remains open, still holding detainees, because the appellate court in early September relied on arguments by Florida and the Trump administration that the state had not yet applied for federal reimbursement, and therefore wasn’t required to follow federal environmental law. State officials opened the detention center last summer to support President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.

Questions by the three appellate judges during oral arguments in a Miami courtroom focused on how much control the federal government had over the state-built facility and under what circumstances an environmental review was required to be in compliance with federal law. The judges did not indicate when they would rule.

Jesse Panuccio, an attorney for the Florida Department of Emergency Management, told the judges federal funding and federal control of the facility were the two criteria for determining if the federal environmental law would apply and the federal agencies had no control over the state-run detention center.

Florida was notified in late September that FEMA had approved $608 million in federal funding to support the center’s construction and operation.

“You need both,” Panuccio said. “Even with funding, I don’t think that would follow because they don’t have federal control.”

An attorney for the environmental groups said the law requiring a review applied to the facility because the U.S. Department of Homeland Security had authorized the funding and immigration was a responsibility of the federal government, not the state. There only needed to be “substantial federal control” and not complete control, said Paul Schwiep, an attorney representing the Friends of the Everglades and the Center for Biological Diversity.

Chief Judge William Pryor, who was appointed to the appellate court by President George W. Bush, responded, “It's not federally controlled when the state retains authority to make decisions.”

Judge Nancy Abudu, who was named to the appellate court by President Joe Biden, asked an attorney for the federal government if states can be in charge of immigration matters. Adam Gustafson responded that the federal government can delegate certain responsibilities to states.

"Is it also, once the federal government gives the states its authority, it’s the ‘Wild, Wild West?’ Abudu asked.

The federal district judge in Miami in mid-August ordered the facility to wind down operations over two months because officials had failed to do a review of the detention center’s environmental impact according to federal law. That judge concluded that a reimbursement decision already had been made. The appellate court halted the order on an appeal.

The environmental lawsuit was one of three federal court challenges to the Everglades facility since it opened. In the others, a detainee said Florida agencies and private contractors hired by the state had no authority to operate the center under federal law. The challenge ended after the immigrant detainee who filed the lawsuit agreed to be removed from the United States.

In the third lawsuit, a federal judge in Fort Myers, Florida, ruled the Everglades facility must provide detainees there with better access to their attorneys, as well as confidential, unmonitored and unrecorded outgoing legal calls.

Follow Mike Schneider on the social platform Bluesky: @mikeysid.bsky.social.

FILE - Trucks come and go from the "Alligator Alcatraz" immigration detention center in the Florida Everglades, Thursday, Aug. 28, 2025, in Collier County, Fla. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell, File)