Defending champion Young Kim birdied 5 of her 1st 7 holes to jump out to an early lead in the Nichi-Iko Ladies, but finished bogey-double-par to open the door to a host of players. Leading the charge was Sakura Yokomine, who shot a bogey-free 65, and Maiko Wakabayashi, whose 31 on the back lifted her into a tie for the lead with the player who looks like she's peaking at just the right time for Team Japan in the LPGA's International Crown. Meanwhile, KLPGA transplant Yeon-Ju Jung fired her best round as a JLPGA member, a 7-birdie 66 that left her tied with 6-time winner Akane Iijima 1 shot behind the co-leaders. Ritsuko Ryu, 20-year-old Rie Tsuji, and 22-in-2-days Natsuka Hori all made it into the mid-60s, as well, shooting 67s with 1, 2, and 0 bogeys, respectively.
With many big-name players taking the week off to prepare for the Women's British Open, you have to look lower on the leader board to find the remaining well-known players: Teresa Lu shot a 70, Bo-Mee Lee a 71, Yumiko Yoshida a 72, and Yuko Mitsuka withdrew. That leaves former top players like Bo-Bae Song (70), Shinobu Moromizato (72), and Hyun-Ju Shin (72) amid a sea of players like Wakabayashi, who have shown glimpses of greatness but haven't sustained it: Na-Ri Lee, Miki Sakai, and Lala Anai at -3, Junko Omoto, Hiromi Mogi, and Kaori Ohe at -2, Na-Ri Kim, Mayu Hattori, and Yukari Baba at -1, Saiki Fujita and Erika Kikuchi at E, Esther Lee at +1, Rui Kitada, Ji-Woo Lee, and Kumiko Kaneda at +2, Yun-Jye Wei and Yuki Sakurai at +3, and Kaori Aoyama at +6.
So Yokomine has a great opportunity to make a big statement on the eve of the Women's British Open. Let's see how she does on the weekend!
Hi, I've just noticed that Rikako Morita has been replaced by Mamiko Higa in Japan's International Crown team. Any ideas why? I was so looking forward to seeing Morita.
ReplyDeleteNo idea why--I hadn't even heard! Will look into it. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteAll LPGA.com mentioned was a "scheduling conflict" for Morita. It's not like she needs to defend a JLPGA title in July, so I have no idea what that means or whether it's a code for something else. I was surprised to read that Shiho Oyama turned down the spot. Nice thing about Higa playing is that she's the 3rd Okinawan player on the team. But she's not having a good 2014....
ReplyDeleteOk thanks for that. Too bad Morita isn't playing cos I really love her smooth swing & was looking forward to seeing her on the big stage. Never mind
DeleteBasically there is a new event on the schedule Century 21 Ladies and of course the JLPGA would want last year's #1 playing... They would never allow Morita & Yokomine to miss a new event.
ReplyDelete