Japan’s Mamiko Higa on Friday birdied her final hole in fading light to maintain her lead at the US Women’s Open Championship, where the second round was delayed for two hours due to thunderstorms and then suspended because of darkness.
The 25-year-old, who is ranked 49th in the world, kept a one-stroke lead from the first round when she shot the lowest debut round in tournament history: a six-under 65.
“I was really happy because I could finish up a tough day with a birdie,” Higa said. “I was so happy.”
Photo: AP
Higa on Friday rolled in a birdie on the par-five ninth hole for an even-par 71 and a two-round total of six-under 136 to lead American Jessica Korda, who shot a bogey-free three-under 68.
There were 45 players still on the Country Club of Charleston course in South Carolina when play was suspended.
Players had to endure a two-hour weather delay, which included lightning striking a large elm tree along the 18th fairway. There were several people standing nearby when the bolt hit, but no one was injured.
Higa is the first Japanese player to lead the tournament since 2011, when Mika Miyazato shot a 67 to top the leaderboard heading into the weekend.
Gina Kim, who shot a 72, and Celine Boutier, who was at four-under on the tournament with four holes to go in her round, were tied for third.
Several of the LPGA Tour’s top players were just a couple strokes back of Higa, including Australia’s Lee Min-jee (69) and two-time US Women’s Open winner Inbee Park (70), who were both at two-under.
World No. 8, Lexi Thompson, the top-ranked American at the competition, was at three-under overall with two holes remaining.
Higa struggled with four birdies and four bogeys in a mixed second round. She made consecutive bogeys to start her back nine, but recovered with back-to-back birdies on the fourth and fifth holes before adding another birdie on the par-five ninth.
Korda, who was one of the early starters, also began on the back nine. Her round featured birdies on two of the three par-fives and another the par-three 17th.
Korda is seeking her first major championship win, but said that she is going to need some luck.
“That’s what you play for,” Korda said. “At the same time, I feel a lot of luck is always a big part of winning a major championship, making the most putts and the least amount of mistakes.”
“It’s really hard to win out here. I think everybody can see that, watching us week in week out. Solid golf will always put me up top. If I have a chance, I’ll try to take it,” she added.
Among those left to finish yesterday was defending champion Ariya Jutanugarn of Thailand, who was two-over with two holes to go.
Nelly Korda, Jessica’s sister, was at three-under overall and tied for fifth with three holes to play in the second round.
Taiwan’s Chien Pei-yun carded a five-under 66 to jump into a share of 17th on one-under 141, while Hsu Wei-ling was in a group tied for 33rd on one-over 143.
Additional reporting by staff writer
Barcelona star Lamine Yamal would be motivated by criticism ahead of the Clasico, Barcelona assistant coach Marcus Sorg said yesterday. Teenage winger Yamal has been in the spotlight in the Spanish capital after joking that Real Madrid “steal” and “complain” during an appearance on a social media stream. Champions Barca face Real Madrid today in La Liga at the Santiago Bernabeu, looking for a fifth consecutive win over their rivals. “Lamine is a top player and I think [the criticism] will be motivating for him,” Sorg told a news conference. “I hope we all see him tomorrow [give] the best performance.” The 18-year-old Spain
‘A HISTORIC moment’: ‘I think we all need to take a step back and appreciate Leo Messi is playing in Major League Soccer,’ league commissioner Don Garber said Lionel Messi raised the Golden Boot. He then got Inter Miami started with his head. The Argentine opened the scoring with a diving header in the first half, then capped the scoring in the 96th minute as Inter Miami opened the MLS playoffs with a 3-1 win over Nashville SC in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference best-of-three first-round series on Friday night. Messi and Ian Fray had the assists on Tadeo Allende’s second-half tally for Inter Miami, who now get two chances to advance out of the first round for the first time in Messi’s two-and-a-half-year tenure with the team. Game
‘COMPLETE GAME’: ‘To be honest, I’m not sure about the history, but I’m very happy about what I did today,’ Yamamoto said through a translator after the game Yoshinobu Yamamoto pitched a World Series game from another era. Sandy Koufax had October outings like this, and so did Orel Hershiser, but those types of performances have vanished in modern baseball. Until this 178cm starter from Japan delivered like the aces of old. Yamamoto threw a four-hitter for his second consecutive complete game, the first in the World Series since 2015, and the defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-1 on Saturday night to tie their best-of-seven matchup at one game apiece. “It’s kind of the throwback,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “When he starts a game, he
Japan’s narrow defeat by Australia showed they can compete with the best teams in the world, coach Eddie Jones said after his side fell to a 19-15 loss yesterday. Australia coach Joe Schmidt led the Wallabies for the first time against Eddie Jones, his predecessor and now Japan coach. During Jones’ second tenure as Australia coach, the Wallabies lost seven of nine tests and were eliminated in group play at the 2023 World Cup. “What I’m super pleased about is that now we [Japan] are a team that stays in the fight,” Jones told reporters. “We kept going, we could have won
RSS