{"id":41951,"date":"2025-08-02T14:00:12","date_gmt":"2025-08-02T14:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/41951\/"},"modified":"2025-08-02T14:00:12","modified_gmt":"2025-08-02T14:00:12","slug":"japans-miyu-yamashita-and-rio-takeda-pull-away-from-field-at-aig-womens-open","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/41951\/","title":{"rendered":"Japan’s Miyu Yamashita and Rio Takeda pull away from field at AIG Women’s Open"},"content":{"rendered":"

PORTHCAWL, Wales \u2014 Miyu Yamashita started and finished with short birdie putts and was flawless in between as she posted a 7-under 65 on Friday to build a three-shot lead over Rio Takeda going into the weekend of the AIG Women\u2019s Open.<\/p>\n

The Japanese players, both among the top 15 in the women\u2019s world ranking, played in the same group at Royal Porthcawl and put on a show in the second round, matching great shots and big putts along the way that left the rest of the field far behind.<\/p>\n

Takeda was the only player within seven shots of Yamashita. Nelly Korda (72) and rising English star Lottie Woad (70) were among the top 10 on the leaderboard and still nine shots behind at the halfway point.<\/p>\n

Woad was on the cusp of contention until a triple bogey on the par-4 16th.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was a lot more good in it than bad,\u201d Woad said. \u201cPlayed really well for 17 holes, just that one hole cost me a bit.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yamashita was bogey-free and did most of her damage with four birdies in a five-hole stretch around the turn as she took advantage of an early start before stronger wind arrived.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t make any particular adjustments to my swing, but the wind was strong, so I think shots are important, as well as club selection and the direction I aim at the target,\u201d Yamashita said. \u201cSo things like that are important, so I played while keeping in mind the image I\u2019ve been practicing so far.\u201d<\/p>\n

Takeda, whose two LPGA titles include the Toto Japan Classic last year before she was a member, was slowed by a pair of bogeys. Takeda atoned for that with a superb approach into the par-5 ninth that settled within tap-in range for eagle. She shot 69.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was able to play calmly today, and I hope to focus on my game and play calmly again tomorrow,\u201d Takeda said.<\/p>\n

Yamashita, who celebrates her 24th birthday on Saturday, was at 11-under 133.<\/p>\n

Chiara Tamburlini of Switzerland and Pajaree Anannarukarn of Thailand each shot 69 and were tied for third at 4-under 140, along with American Lindy Duncan (70).<\/p>\n

The cut fell at 2-over 146. Brooke Henderson of Canada was right on the cut line until missing a 4-foot par putt on the windblown 17th, and then failing to make birdie on the par-5 closing hole.<\/p>\n

Also missing the cut were world No. 4 Ruoning Yin (77), Rose Zhang (76) and U.S. Women\u2019s Open champion Maja Stark (78).<\/p>\n

Korda remains the No. 1 player in women\u2019s golf despite not winning this year, and she now faces a tall order with a nine-shot deficit for the last 36 holes.<\/p>\n

\u201cHonestly didn\u2019t really capitalize on anything in the calmer conditions on the front nine, then kind of got really windy on the back,\u201d Korda said. \u201cMade a few more mistakes but bounced back with some birdies. Overall, I\u2019m not going to complain with even par.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"AIG<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Woad moved into a tie for fourth before a costly hole late in her round Friday at Royal Porthcawl.<\/p>\n

Woad made the best run at the Japanese duo until one swing and one nasty lie cost her. She had a 3-wood for her second shot into a strong wind on the par-4 16th. It sailed to the right into thick grass. Her first hack moved the golf ball only a few inches. She had to take a penalty shot for an unplayable lie, got that one on the green and two-putted for a triple bogey.<\/p>\n

She closed with two pars for a 70, a score that otherwise would seem satisfactory.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d certainly take it now, but not when I was standing on the 16th tee,\u201d Woad said with a smile. \u201cYeah, just got to try to play well over the weekend. It\u2019s pretty packed, so I can move up a bit.\u201d<\/p>\n

Everyone is chasing Yamashita, who led the Japan LPGA money list in 2022 and 2023 while winning five times in each of those seasons. She also finished one shot out of a playoff for the bronze medal in the Paris Olympics last year.<\/p>\n

For now, she is thinking only about keeping her rhythm in the wind.<\/p>\n

\u201cI haven\u2019t particularly worried about expected scores until now. I\u2019m always thinking about competing for a high ranking in each tournament, and I just played with my day in mind,\u201d Yamashita said. \u201cSo I\u2019m glad that my score and ranking worked out.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PORTHCAWL, Wales \u2014 Miyu Yamashita started and finished with short birdie putts and was flawless in between as…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":41952,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[443],"tags":[49,48,622,82],"class_list":["post-41951","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-golf","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41951","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41951"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41951\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41952"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41951"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41951"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41951"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}