Miyazato leads LPGA event by one shot

Miyazato leads LPGA event by one shot










The Sports Xchange June 21, 2013 9:10 PMThe SportsXchange



ROGERS, Ark. -- Mika Miyazato shot an opening-round 6-under-par 65 on Friday to grab the lead after one day at the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship at Pinnacle Country Club.

Miyazato, a runner-up at the 2012 NW Arkansas Championship and a third-place finisher at the tournament in 2010, continued her strong play at Pinnacle Country Club. After an even-par start through six holes, she birdied six of her final 12 holes to move to the top of the leaderboard, where she holds a one-stroke advantage over So Yeon Ryu and Angela Stanford.

Miyazato's birdie run began at the par-5 seventh hole and continued with another birdie at the par-4 ninth to finish the front nine at 2-under 34. Four more birdies on the back nine, at holes 10, 11, 13 and 15, moved Miyazato -- the No. 15-ranked player in the world -- to first place after an morning tee time Friday.

A group of 10 players sit just two strokes behind at 4-under par. Suzann Pettersen, ranked No. 3 in the world and coming off a tie for third at the Wegmans LPGA Championship on June 6-9, shot 67 with five birdies and one bogey. Also among the players at 4-under after round one are tour rookie Chie Arimura, Mina Harigae, Christel Boeljon, Danielle Kang, Sarah Kemp, Lisa McCloskey, Beatriz Recari and Azahara Monoz, who tied for second at last year's NW Arkansas Championship along with Miyazato.

Local fan favorite and world No. 2-ranked player Stacy Lewis, who played in college at nearby University of Arkansas, is in the group at 4-under as well after a strong finish with birdies at holes 15, 16 and 18 to close out her first round.

Lewis easily attracted the largest gallery of the day, as the former Arkansas All-American was on the receiving end of several "Woo Pig Sooie" Razorback calls during her round.

A total of 52 golfers in the field of 144 finished under par Friday, with the majority of the top scores coming from the morning tee times. Among the afternoon pairings, Stanford scored the best round at 66.

Ryu, No. 5 in the Rolex World Rankings, used a hot putter to stay within one shot of the lead. Despite hitting just 11 of 18 greens in regulation, the 22-year old South Korean took advantage of just 25 total putts on the day.