SHIGA, Japan — Hana Wakimoto shot a 4-under 68 on Friday to keep up her lead after the second spherical of the LPGA’s Toto Japan Basic.
The Japanese participant shot a 63 within the opening spherical and continued to set the tempo with a 13-under-par whole of 131 after 36 holes.
Yealimi Noh of the US and Ariya Jutanugarn of Thailand have been two strokes off the lead after the second spherical. Noh shot 65 and Jutanugarn carded a 66.
Rio Takeda of Japan was three behind after a 65.
Noh, who has been utilizing a brand new placing stance over the previous 12 months, birdied her first gap of the day, the par-5 first, and made pars on her subsequent two holes. The 23-year-old then had 4 consecutive birdies.
“For me, final 12 months, I used to be actually fighting my placing and I simply wanted one thing new and one thing fully totally different,” stated Noh, who wanted solely 20 putts all through her second spherical Friday.
“I by no means even considered making an attempt it however my coach and my dad urged it to me and I attempted it. It helped me recover from that uneasy feeling over the ball. So, that’s the way it began and now utilizing it a 12 months after, my stroke has gotten actually stable and my velocity is nice with the putter so it has helped me quite a bit.”
Canada’s Brooke Henderson shot 71 and was at 3 beneath, 10 strokes behind. Minjee Lee of Australia shot 75 and was 11 strokes behind Wakimoto .
The Japan match concludes a four-event Asian swing for the LPGA Tour that included occasions in China , South Korea and Malaysia.
