Mayu Yamashita leads AIG Women's Open by three at Porthcawl
Given that she's holding the AIG Women's Open in a half nelson after two rounds at Royal Porthcawl, it may be the wrestling Yamashita after all?
A terrific seven-under 65 lifted the 23-year-old onto an 11-under aggregate and left her three shots ahead of her compatriot, Rio Takeda, going into the weekend's cut-and-thrust.
The rest have some catching up to do. There's a decent gap between Takeda in second and those wheezing on behind.
Yamashita may not be a household name in these parts but she's certainly big in Japan. She has 13 wins on her native circuit while her move to the LPGA Tour in the US had spawned some impressive major finishes with a second and a sixth in the Women's PGA Championship over the last couple of seasons.
Yamashita has also posted a 13th and a 21st in the AIG Women's Open and her delightfully assembled, bogey-free card on day two in south Wales underlined her growing fondness for this championship.
An early salvo of birdies at the first and second signalled her intent and Yamashita made a telling advance around the turn with four birdies in five holes from the ninth.
Another gain on the last increased her lead and was akin to a grappling hold as the bell sounded. The chasing pack are not ready to submit yet, but Yamashita has certainly flexed her muscles.
Lottie Woad – she won't be confused with a wrestler in a Google search – had been on course to match Yamashita's score as golf's woman of the moment mounted a lively second round assault.
The 21-year-old, who won the Irish and Scottish Opens during a magical July as she transitioned from the amateur game into the paid ranks, reeled off six birdies in nine holes from the sixth.
The growing momentum came crashing to a halt, though, on Porthcawl's devilish 16th.
Tangled in the rough after her second shot, Woad's swipe for her third barely moved the ball at all.
The former world amateur No 1 called on a referee in the belief that her ball was embedded and worthy of free relief. The referee didn't grant Woad relief – she also got a second opinion from another official to no avail - and she had to declare her ball unplayable.
The whole palaver eventually led to a damaging triple-bogey and Woad had to settle for a 70. Her two-under total left her nine shots off the pace.
Even this latest golden girl may find it hard to conjure another silver lining from here.
'A bit too far back now probably,' said Woad, who finished tied 10th as an amateur in last year's AIG Women's Open at St Andrews.
'There was a lot more good in it than bad. I played really well for 17 holes, just that one hole cost me a bit.
'I think it's probably the toughest hole on the course. The tee-shot is hard to hit the fairway and then you've got three-wood into a very strong wind. Anything that's missing the target is going to be exaggerated. So I pushed it and got a pretty unlucky lie.
'It wasn't too thick around there apart from where I was. So, I couldn't really do much with that.'
As for the decision not to give her relief? 'I just had to forget about it as quickly as possible,' she added. Them's the breaks, eh?
Nelly Korda, the world No 1, sits alongside Woad on two-under while Porthcawl member, Darcey Harry, also finished on the two-under mark as she continued to revel in the home comforts. Well, we think she is?
'I have to keep reminding myself I know the course, so I don't know why I'm stressing,' she said after a level-par 72. 'I just have to try to enjoy the atmosphere.
'I keep forgetting that this is actually my home course and I've played it before.
'I think the first two days are usually the most nerve-racking because you want to make the cut. Anything can happen on this course. You can get in trouble, big trouble any time.
'I definitely think today was quite a stressful day for everyone because the cut's on the line. I can reset for tomorrow.'
Georgia Hall, the 2018 champion, finished on level-par and was joined on that tally by the 2023 runner-up, Charley Hull.
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an hour ago
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an hour ago
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