Saturday, May 3, 2014

CyberAgent Ladies Saturday: Two Teenagers Share 1-Shot Lead on Ji-Yai Shin

17-year-old Haruka Morita and 18-year-old Kotone Hori lead the CyberAgent Ladies by 1 over Ji-Yai Shin, 2 over Yuki Ichinose, and 3 over 22-year-old Kotono Kozuma, while 16-year-old Kana Nagai was only 4 shots off the pace after 36 holes in Chiba.

Shin's bogey-free 65 was the low round of the week thus far and Sakura Yokomine's 68 brought her within 6 of the lead, but the day was dominated by the trio of teenagers.  Hori fired a 6-birdie 67 and Morita a 5-birdie 68 to get to -8, while Nagai's 5-birdie 68 brought her into a tie with 1st-round leader 20-year-old Ayaka Watanabe at -4.

Unfortunately, 15-year-old Minami Katsu, who's already won on the JLPGA this year, missed the cut by 1 shot, while Miki Saiki had to withdraw.  With Mi-Jeong Jeon, Ji-Hee Lee, Sun-Ju Ahn, Bo-Mee Lee, and Na-Ri Kim at -1, Esther Lee at -3 and Young Kim at -2 are the other best hopes for the Seoul Sisters on the JLPGA this week.  It was nice to see the KLPGA's Ha Neul Kim bounce back and make the cut, as well.

So the odds are that we'll either have another teenage amateur champion crowned tonight, or the former world #1 get back in the saddle and notch her 6th career victory on tour.  Should be fascinating either way!

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