EDMONTON — It didn’t take long for the up-and-coming Canadian teenage talent to make their mark at this year’s CPKC Women’s Open, with both Anna Huang and Michelle Xing firmly in the mix after opening day at Royal Mayfair Golf Club.
Both Huang, 17, and Xing, 18, opened with 5-under 65s and will head into Friday trailing leader Miyu Yamashita of Japan by just three shots. Fellow Japanese golfer Nasa Hataoka is one back at 7 under, while Kiara Romero, who is making her pro debut this week after earning her LPGA Tour card via a new points program for elite amateurs, sits at 6 under.
Huang started on the back nine Thursday in Edmonton and was 2 under before making the turn and adding three birdies to her scorecard — including two in a row on Nos. 6 and 7.
Huang, who is the youngest golfer in the history of the Ladies European Tour to win four times, after winning twice in 2025 and twice again so far in 2026, hit 15 of 18 greens in her opening round and had plenty of other opportunities to go even lower.
She admitted with a smile that she had some trouble with outside forces, which made it tough to roll the rock.
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“The only downside is the mosquitoes,” said Huang, who stated that she was getting bug bites through her clothes. “It’s pretty bad. My arms are pretty red right now.”
Alas, Huang said her comfort level on this LPGA Tour stage — given her successes so far in 2026 across the pond — is “pretty high.”
“I think my game is in a pretty good spot, so hopefully I can just continue playing some good golf,” she said.
“I think I’m definitely a lot more confident than I was the past few years coming into this event, and then also just all the crowds out there really helped.”
Xing, meanwhile, was 5 under through her first 12 holes. She gave one back with a bogey on the par-4 6th — she started on the back nine — but got it right back with a birdie on the next hole. She needed only 23 putts on Thursday.
“I was just trying to keep it simple,” Xing said. “Like a lot of the time just trying to get the speed with certain putts because I had a lot of long putts. I was lucky enough to make a couple longer ones from the fringe which kind of helped me with the putting numbers.”
Xing, who won the Canadian Women’s Amateur Championship last year, is committed to going to UCLA in the fall. She won the PGA Women’s Championship of Canada to earn a spot in her maiden CPKC Women’s Open, but missed the cut both that year and in 2025 (ironically, she has only ever shot 75 in each round she’s ever played at the CPKC Women’s Open until Thursday’s opener).
She said finding the weekend in her national open would be awfully meaningful.
“It would mean a lot. You know, I played this tournament a couple times before. I’ve been trying, like I’ve been close before, but I haven’t done it yet. As an amateur, like that’s one of my biggest goals, is to make the cut at an LPGA event, especially when it’s in Canada,” Xing said.
“I definitely feel more comfortable. I remember when I was playing my first one, I was very, very nervous — like, shaking nervous — but this definitely feels a little more familiar to me now.”
The Canadian duo will have some ground to make up with Yamashita off to a record-breaking start. Her 62 set the Royal Mayfair course record and was just one shot off the tournament’s 18-hole low score of 61.
Yamashita came into the week after a missed cut at the AIG Women’s Open in July, but prior to that she had four top-five finishes in her last six tournaments — including a win at the Meijer LPGA Classic for Simply Give. In all, Yamashita has finished inside the top 10 in half of her starts so far this year.
“I took two weeks off in Japan and I got really good feelings right now; so I want to keep (the) good rhythm for (Friday),” Yamashita said. “It’s been a while since I finished the first round in good position, so I was able to make some putts as well (and) I’m pretty happy with how I played.”