Sunday, October 19, 2008

Fujitsu Ladies Saturday: Mitsuka Shoots 64, Leads Fukushima by 6

It was a classic anything-you-can-do-I-can-do-better day in the 2nd round of the Fujitsu Ladies event on the JLPGA. While 1st-round leader Akiko Fukushima struggled to a 73 that included 2 birdies in her last 3 holes on a bogey-free front and 3 consecutive bogeys on a birdie-less back, Yuko Mitsuka caught fire, making 6 birdies and an eagle in her 2nd straight bogey-free round, this one a 64 that brought her from 3 shots down to 6 shots up on Fukushima. As nobody else in the field could catch even the former leader, this tournament is officially Mitsuka's to lose. Yuri Fudoh would be her main challenger were it not for the 1 blemish on her scorecard being a double bogey, by the way.

1st/-14 Mitsuka (66-64)
2nd/-8 Fukushima (63-73)
T3/-7 Mayu Hattori (70-67), Fudoh (69-68)
5th/-6 Tamie Durdin (70-68)
T6/-5 Shiho Oyama (70-69), Miho Koga (69-70), Akane Iijima (69-70), Ah-Reum Hwang (69-70), Mikiyo Nishizuka (67-72)

T11/-4 Eun-A Lim (71-69), Kaori Higo (70-70), Saiki Fujita (68-72), Sakura Yokomine (67-73)
T16/-3 Hiromi Mogi (72-69), Shinobu Moromizato (70-71), Nikki Campbell (69-72)
T20/-2 Asako Fujimoto (69-73)
T27/-1 Hiroko Yamaguchi (69-74), Erina Hara (68-75)
T44/+1 Esther Lee (71-74), Ritsuko Ryu (70-75)

In light of how low the top 10 players have been able to go this week, it's a bit shocking how many big names missed the cut:

T52/+2 Mie Nakata (73-73), Rui Yokomine (72-74), Miki Saiki (70-76)
T63/+3 Ji-Woo Lee (73-74)
T67/+4 Yun-Jye Wei (76-72), Rui Kitada (74-74), Yuki Ichinose (73-75)
T73/+6 Chie Arimura (74-76)
T83/+8 Maiko Wakabayashi (76-76)
T86/+10 Midori Yoneyama (77-77)

Will Mitsuka bury the field like she did when she got her 1st win of the season, or will someone put some pressure on her in the final round? Stay tuned!

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