Royal Porthcrawl 'a special test' for LPGA's best
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Boston Globe
4 days ago
- Boston Globe
Akie Iwai of Japan shoots 64 in Portland to take lead in bid for first LPGA Tour title
'My style, my golf style, is aggressive,' she said. 'That's why no change this week. Also, aim to the pin — boom! boom! Every shot, every hole. That's it.' Advertisement When it's your day, it's your day 😮💨 Akie Iwai finishes with a birdie, despite hitting her drive into the trees, and takes the clubhouse lead at 18-under 💪 — LPGA (@LPGA) Grace Kim of Australia was second after a 67. She holed a 156-yard, 7-iron shot for eagle from the left rough on the par-4 17th. 'I was trying to see if I could get a drop,' Kim said. 'I wasn't entirely over the sprinkler-head boxes so you knew I just had to hit it. Leaked right again. I was like, `Oh, please get through the rough.' Somehow went in the hole.' GRACE KIM DOES IT AGAIN 🤯 A HOLE OUT FROM THE ROUGH FOR EAGLE 🦅 — LPGA (@LPGA) Linn Grant was 14 under after a 65. The Swede won the 2023 Dana Open for her lone LPGA Tour title. 'Tried to go out and just be, I wouldn't say happy, but just accepting of whatever today would bring,' Grant said. 'I think I played very mature and just had a lot of fun.' Advertisement Gurleen Kaur had a 70 to get to 13 under, and Aditi Ashok (65) was another stroke back with Gina Kim (67). Chisato Iwai — the winner in Mexico at Mayakoba in May — was in the group at 11 under after a 66. She also eagled the fifth hole. Haeran Ryu, at No. 9 in the world one of only two top-10 players in the field, also was 11 under. She had a hole-in-one on the 177-yard 16th in a 67. Akie Iwai dropped a stroke on the par-3 second, then played a five-hole stretch in 5 under. She hit her second shot to 3 feet to set up the eagle, then hit to a foot on the par-4 sixth. On the back nine, she birdied three of the first four holes, two of them par 5s, then hit a 152-yard shot to a foot on 18. She's sticking with the aggressive approach Sunday. 'No change. No change. Same as usual,' she said. Driver off the deck ➡️ into the trees ➡️ birdie 🐣 Unreal sequence from Akie Iwai to extend her lead 🤯 — LPGA (@LPGA) Two-time champion Brooke Henderson, a stroke back after an opening 65, followed a second-round 73 with a 68 to get to 10 under. The Canadian star is winless since January 2023. Second-round leader Jeongeun Lee5 also was 10 under after shooting 74. Amateur Kiara Romero was 8 under after a 72. The University of Oregon player won the 2023 US Girls' Junior and 2025 Big Ten title. The tournament is the longest continuous event on the LPGA Tour except for the majors, dating to 1972.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Yahoo
Japan's Iwai grabs lead at LPGA Portland Classic
Japanese rookie Akie Iwai fired a eight-under par 64 to seize a two-stroke lead after Saturday's third round of the LPGA Portland Classic. The 23-year-old from Saitama, seeking her first LPGA victory, made seven birdies and an eagle against a lone bogey to stand on 18-under 198 after 54 holes at Edgewater Country Club. Australia's Grace Kim, who captured her first major title at the Evian Championship, made a stunning eagle at the 17th, holing out from 156 yards from the fairway rough to shoot 67 and grab second on 200. World number 29 Iwai, an LPGA runner-up this year at Thailand and the LA Championship, has won six times on the Japan Tour. "After I made the eagle at five, I had many birdie chances, so good tempo," Iwai said. "My style is aggressive. No change this week. Aim to the pin. Every shot. Every hole." That was apparent at the 18th hole, where she dropped her approaches inches from the hole and tapped in for her fourth birdie on the back nine. After answering a bogey at the par-three second hole with a birdie at the third, Iwai eagled the par-five fifth followed by back-to-back birdies at six and the par-five seventh. She began the back nine with birdies at the par-five 10th and 12th holes and added another at the par-three 13th to reach 17-under and lead by three strokes. Kim went four-under over the last five holes to charge into the second with birdies at 14 and 15 and her eagle at 17 the shot of the round. She looked away after the ball landed in the rough, not seeing it bounce onto the green, roll down a slope and into the hole for an eagle. "I leaked my driver a little right," Kim said. "I thought I was going to be in the rough, which it was, and I was trying to see if I could get a drop. I wasn't entirely over the sprinkler head boxes so I knew I just had to hit it. "It leaked right again and I was like, 'Oh please get through the rough,' and somehow it went in the hole so I guess it's a little bit of luck in there." Sweden's Linn Grant took third on 202 with a 65, one stroke ahead of American Gurleen Kaur with India's Aditi Ashok and American Gina Kim on 204. "I had a good round out there," Grant said. "Tried to go out and just be, I wouldn't say happy, but just accepting of whatever today would bring. I played very mature and just had a lot of fun." South Korea's Lee5 Jeong-eun led after 36 holes but made a triple bogey at the par-four sixth hole to fall eight off the pace. js/sla
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Yahoo
Lee5 leads Evian champ Kim at LPGA Portland Classic
South Korea's Lee5 Jeong-eun fired six birdies in a five-under par 67 on Friday to grab a one-shot lead over Evian Championship winner Grace Kim and Gurleen Kaur in the second round of the LPGA Portland Classic. Lee5, a 36-year-old chasing her first LPGA Tour title, thrived again at Edgewater Country Club, where she finished tied for second in 2021. She rolled in five straight birdies from the fifth through the ninth, and added one more at 12 before her lone bogey of the day at 13, moving atop the leaderboard with a 12-under par total of 132. Australia's Kim, who won her first major title last month with a playoff victory at the Evian, had an eagle and six birdies in her seven-under 65 for 133 while Kaur posted a 68. Lee -- whose numeral 5 designation differentiates her from five other players with the same name -- said she tried to stay patient in chilly morning conditions, but after a birdie at the par-five fifth she just rode the momentum and "great energy to continue making birdies until hole nine." She needed just 25 putts in a stellar performance on the greens. "Honestly, all my birdie chances were a short putt, so I think that was the reason I was able to make those birdies and have a low putting stroke today," she said. Kim wasn't thrilled with her performance off the tee, but said her shots into the greens and putting "really backed up my game. "Had a lot of good range, mid-range to long putts today, so that was nice," said Kim. "Just rolled it well." She teed off on 10 and had three birdies and a bogey in her first nine holes. After a birdie at the second she eagled the fifth, then closed with back-to-back birdies at eight and nine. "This week is always a bit of a birdie fest," Kim said. "Knowing that, I'm going to try not to get too ahead of myself and be greedy." Kaur also finished strong, closing birdie-birdie for a four-under 68 to join Kim on 11-under -- one shot clear of Akie Iwai, Pajaree Anannarukarn and Ashleigh Buhai. Overnight leader Adela Cernousek of France carded a three-over par 75 to fall seven shots off the pace. LPGA Hall of Famer Juli Inkster, 65 and playing her first LPGA event since 2022 as she prepares for the US Women's Senior Open, came up just shy of a slice of LPGA history. She followed an opening 69 with a two-over 74 and missed breaking the record for oldest player to make an LPGA cut by one stroke. bb/jgc
