Japan’s Miyu Yamashita narrowed the gap on her three-shot overnight lead after posting a two-over par round on moving day at the AIG Women’s Open.
Related: Flawless Miyu Yamashita surges in AIG Women’s Open
Yamashita battled with the afternoon wind around Royal Porthcawl, carding two birdies and four bogeys, heading into the final day.
“The winds are really strong so that’s something where club selection becomes quite difficult. That’s something which I’m going to be focused on tomorrow, something I can draw on the experience in Muirfield [in 2022]”, said the 24-year-old.
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Heading into tomorrow, Yamashita will focus on one shot at a time. She added: “That’s how I play my best golf. Tonight, I’ll look at what went wrong and what went right and analysing the day. I’ll make the improvements that will hopefully lead to a better round tomorrow.”
The 24-year-old will be chasing her first major title tomorrow, having made her major debut at the 2022 AIG Women’s Open. Since then, she’s found remarkable success on the LPGA of Japan Tour, collecting 13 titles.
Only three shots separate the top seven in what was an ever-changing leaderboard for the final major of the season.
One shot back in solo second place is South Korea’s A Lim Kim on eight-under par, after firing a bogey-free round.
“It was good day today”, said the 2020 US Women’s Open major winner. “Trajectory control was key for today and ball control is so important this week. Today, the wind direction was a little bit different compared to the first two days. But I love more west wind which is what it was today, so I’m used to it a lot.”
Commenting on being in contention on the final day, she said: “I’m honestly not focused on the leader. My focus will be on my process, my shot, and then my position.”
America’s Andrea Lee, who started the day in T10, fired a strong round on Saturday with seven birdies. Lee now sits in solo third place, just two shots off the lead.
“It was a solid one. I knew the wind was going to pick up, especially on the back nine, so I tried to take advantage of the front which I was able to do. Holes 10 through 12 was a pretty nice stretch, and I knew 14 through 17 was going to be pretty tough. I was just trying to make pars on those holes. I managed to just get one on 16. I’m pretty happy with the way I played out there today.”
The LPGA winner recently finished in the top five at The Amundi Evian Championship. She continued: “My performance at Evian does help your confidence coming into this week. I knew my game was in a good position coming into this week. Obviously trying to not have any expectations and play solid golf.”
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Japan’s Minami Katsu fired round of the day (-7), to sit in a share of fourth place, alongside England’s Charley Hull, America’s Megan Khang, and Japan’s Rio Takeda.
After a shaky start, Katsu quickly found her rhythm – carding three birdies and an eagle on the front nine, followed by four more birdies on the back.
“I made two bogeys on the first three holes, but after that I was really focused on my swing. I just had a really good image of my swing, and I kept that going, and here I am”, said Katsu.
She started the day in T35 so climbed 31 places to head into the final day only three shots off the pace.
“I’m definitely in good contention right now”, she continued. “Obviously, I didn’t reach the top, but I still have another round tomorrow. If I can continue the same golf I did today, I feel like I can do it tomorrow.”
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Katsu was 15 years old when she became the youngest winner on the LPGA Tour of Japan, capturing the KKT Cup Vantelin in 2014. Having earned her LPGA Tour card, she has had two top-10 finishes on this season’s circuit and now returns for a sixth shot at the AIG Women’s Open, having made the cut on two previous occasions.
Hull caught fire early with a string of birdies on the front nine, then added back-to-back birdies on the 12th and 13th, before dropping her only shot of the day on the 14th.
