Japan’s Haru Nomura produced a strong finish on the tougher back nine to take a three-shot lead after the second round at the Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic in San Francisco on Friday.
The 23-year-old bided her time with 11 consecutive pars, before rolling in 12-foot birdies at the next two holes as she signed for a two-under-par 70 to move clear of the field in a testing breeze at the Lake Merced Golf Club.
“I keep my patience, so I’m so relaxed, and a couple putts in, and that’s it,” said Nomura, who won the Women’s Australian Open in February, after reaching the halfway mark on a nine-under 135 total.
Australian teenager Minjee Lee, coming off a victory at the Lotte Championship in Hawaii on Sunday last week, continued her strong form when she surged into a share of second with a bogey-free 65.
Lee was joined at six-under by overnight leader Ryu So-yeon (75) and Choi Na-yeon (70) of South Korea, with two-time defending champion Lydia Ko a further shot back after two late bogeys.
Ko, who turns 19 today, is seeking to become the youngest player to win an LPGA event for three consecutive years.
“I knew with the wind getting up it would be tough,” Ko said after a one-under-par 71. “I hit a few wayward shots, but overall I played pretty solidly.”
“My ball-striking wasn’t too good on my back nine, but hopefully we can get that sorted,” she added.
Ko played in the afternoon, while Lee endured the morning rain that abated for the late starters.
“I came off a really great win last week, so I should have a lot of confidence and momentum coming into this week too,” Lee said.
Kaohsiung-born US player Candie Kung dropped 28 places down the leaderboard to tie for 30th with Taiwan’s Hsu Wei-ling. Both women were sitting on even-par totals of 144 after the second round.
Lin Tzu-chi and Min Lee were tied for 37th one shot back after carding a one-over-par 73 and one-over-par 74 respectively.
Cheng Ssu-chia hit a two-over-par 73, while Chang Ya-chun was sitting on four-over-par 77.
The remaining Taiwanese competitors failed to make the cut.
Additional reporting by staff writer
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
HSIEH MAKES QUARTERS: Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens of Belgium won in the women’s doubles and face Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sofia Kenin of the US Top-ranked Iga Swiatek and US Open champion Coco Gauff were knocked out of the women’s singles at the Miami Open on Monday, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced in the women’s doubles. Swiatek lost to Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-4, 6-2, hours after third seed Gauff fell in three sets to No. 23 Caroline Garcia 6-3, 1-6, 6-2. Alexandrova beat a top-ranked player for the first time and advanced to face Jessica Pegula, a 7-6 (7/1), 6-3 winner over Emma Navarro, in the quarter-finals. Alexandrova recorded her second win over Swiatek, following a 2021 victory in Melbourne. Swiatek had won their three matches since. “We played quite