Munsingwear Ladies Tokai Classic Saturday: Sakura Yokomine and Erika Kikuchi Move to Double Digits Under Par

Sakura Yokomine and Erika Kikuchi are tied for the lead at -10 after 36 holes in the Munsingwear Ladies Tokai Classic.  Yokomine, who has a gold and 2 silvers already this season, hasn't yet made a bogey this week, but she fell 1 shot short of matching Kikuchi's low round of the day today.  The 27-year-old Yokomine will be aiming for her 20th JLPGA victory tomorrow, while the 25-year-old Kikuchi will be searching for her 1st.

1st-round leader Na-Ri Lee didn't play as great today as she did yesterday, but she managed to hold onto a share of 2nd, 1 shot behind the co-leaders, and avoid being leapfrogged by Asako Fujimoto and Da-Ye Na, who matched Kikuchi's bogey-free 65.  Last week's major winner Bo-Mee Lee also hung in there as she joined Ji-Yai Shin and Erina Hara 3 shots off the pace.  With money-list leader Rikako Morita at -6, Shanshan Feng at -5, and Sun-Ju Ahn at -4--not to mention 23 golfers within 5 shots of the lead--it should be an interesting finish tomorrow.

But Mika Miyazato won't be a factor in it, as she'll be moving from the final pairing in the 2nd round to the 1st pairing in the 3rd, thanks to a pair of doubles on the front that knocked her out of contention and nearly onto the wrong side of the cut line--which is where the #2 (Yumiko Yoshida) and #3 (Miki Saiki) golfers on tour this year fell and the #4 (Natsuka Hori) and #5 (Mamiko Higa) players just missed falling.

Here's a quick survey of some of the major moves from today's round.

Elevator Going...Up!

• Erika Kikuchi (-10): bogey-free 65
• Asako Fujimoto (-9): bogey-free 65
• Da-Ye Na (-9): bogey-free 65
• Sakura Yokomine (-10): bogey-free 66
• Erina Hara (-7): 8-birdie 66 (including 4 in a row to end her round)
• Rikako Morita (-6): bogey-free 67
• Shanshan Feng (-5): bogey-free 67
• Mayumi Nakajima (-5): bogey-free 67
• Yayoi Arasaki (-4): bogey-free 67
• Ayaka Watanabe (-2): 8-birdie 67 (after tripling the par-4 14th, she birdied her last 3 holes)
• Ji-Yai Shin (-7): bogey-free 68
• Rui Kitada (-6): bogey-free 68
• Mami Fukuda (-5): 5-birdie 68
• Hyun-Ju Shin (-4): bogey-free 68
• Ji-Hee Lee (-6): 4-birdie 69
• Lala Anai (-6): 4-birdie 69
• Kaori Ohe (-5): bogey-free 69
• Yui Mukaiyama (-5): 4-birdie 69
• Ikue Asama (-1): 4-birdie 69

I'm...Melting!

• Mika Miyazato (-1): 2-double birdieless 40 on the front left her with a 76 on the day
• Yumiko Yoshida (+4): 4-bogey, 1-double 41 on the front and bogey-free 34 on the back
• Ritsuko Ryu (E): birdieless 75
• Ji-Woo Lee (-2): 2-birdie, 2-bogey, 1-triple 75
• Asuka Tsujimura (-2): 5-bogey 75 (4 on the front)
• Mayu Hattori (+5): 4-bogey 74
• Akane Iijima (-2): 1-eagle, 2-birdie, 4-bogey, 1-double 74
• Miki Saiki (+3): 3-birdie, 2-bogey, 1-double 73
• Megumi Kido (-2): birdieless 73
• Tamie Durdin (-3): 4-birdie, 3-bogey, 1-double 73
• Juria Kurata (-3): 1-eagle, 3-birdie, 2-bogey, 2-double 73
• Shiho Toyonaga (-5): 2-bogey 73

Other notables to miss the cut include Kumiko Kaneda (70, E), Esther Lee (72, E), Young Kim (72, +1), and Junko Omote (71, +2).  Everyone under par after today's round will have a chance to bounce back, get it out of neutral, or keep on rolling tomorrow.  I'll be rooting for Mikan to go low!