NAPLES, Fla. — Nasa Hataoka acquired off to a robust begin and Amy Yang had a robust end, ending with a share of the lead within the CME Group Tour Championship with 18 holes remaining and $2 million on the road.
Yang had 4 birdies in his last six holes at Tiburon for an 8-under 64. Hataoka set the early tempo with 5 birdies in his first 11 holes and completed with a 65.
They had been at 21 underneath par, 195, with scores so low that they’re already two photographs away from the event document with one spherical remaining.
“I really feel fairly nervous about being in competition, however I by no means thought I would need to go 9-under yesterday, as a result of in golf you by no means know,” stated Yang, who shot a 63 on Friday. “However I attempted my finest to remain within the current, and after I resolve to take a shot, I simply commit and go for it.”
Hataoka was requested what it might take to win, understanding that $2 million will go to the winner.
“Not altering something,” he stated. “My swing feels actually comfy…I believe the very best factor is to simply concentrate on my spherical and put that out of my thoughts and simply observe my golf.”
Alison Lee, who reached the LPGA Last with a win on the Women European Tour and two second-place finishes on the LPGA Tour, tried to maintain up the tempo. She solely managed 4 birdies, three of them on the par 5s, and needed to accept a 68.
That left her three strokes behind with a lot journey on Sunday.
The 60 gamers who certified for the ultimate occasion of the LPGA Tour season solely need to win at Tiburon Golf Membership to say the $2 million prize, matching the richest in girls’s golf, equal to the US Girls’s Open. Solely six girls have gained $2 million or extra all season.
Yang will attempt to win in america for the primary time. His 4 LPGA victories got here in South Korea as soon as and Thailand thrice.
Hataoka has six LPGA titles, all within the final 5 years, and the 24-year-old Japanese rode a scorching putter to offer herself an opportunity.
“He performed wonderful, made loads of actually good putts,” stated Lee, who performed with Hataoka. “Seeing that, I noticed her do some and I believed, ‘God, I need to do some too.’ However we nonetheless have yet one more day. There’s nonetheless loads of work to do on Sunday.”
Xiyu Lin had a 66 and was 4 photographs behind. One other setback had been Girls’s PGA Champion Ruoning Yin and two-time Main Champion Minjee Lee, each with 69s on a day when rather more was wanted to maintain tempo.
“You’ll be able to’t actually complain in regards to the ghostless spherical,” Yin stated. “I am simply making fewer birdies at present than I used to be two days in the past, however I really feel like all the things is slightly off.”
Tiburon obtained 4 inches of rain on the eve of the event, and the course has not but dried and doesn’t signify a lot of a take a look at. The fairways are beneficiant, the greens tender and clean and the rating low.
Jin Younger Ko set the event document at 23 underneath par two years in the past.
Nelly Korda tried to remain shut, making her first hole-in-one on the LPGA Tour on the par-3 eighth. However she made consecutive bogeys on the finish of the again 9 and needed to accept a 66. That left her seven photographs behind, tied for the lead. World No. 1 Lilia Vu (66), Brooke Henderson of Canada (66) and Atthaya Thitikul (69). .
“Positively a nothing-to-lose mentality,” Korda stated. “It’ll take a really low degree to meet up with the leaders. I’d say something is feasible. I’ll go on the market and attempt to play my recreation and take it one shot at a time and see the place it takes me.”
Vu nearly clinched the points-based award for LPGA Participant of the 12 months. He wanted to complete eighth to safe the title, however that was provided that Celine Boutier gained. Boutier scored one other 70 and was 14 photographs behind in a tie for thirty fifth place.
