Japanese golfers feeling right at home in Wales for AIG Women's British Open
By the end of the opening day, Japanese golfers filled the top six places on the leaderboard.
They seemed to be so comfortable in this corner of south Wales, you half expected them to be singing a jolly rendition of 'We'll keep a welcome in the hillside' by Harry Secombe as they trotted into the recording hut.
Rio Takeda, joint runner-up in the U.S. Women's Open earlier this season, and Eri Okayama were perched at the summit after five-under 67s left them one clear after 18 holes of play. Takeda followed with a 69 in the second round and is still right near the top. Okayama didn't fare as well, as her back issues seemed to flare up and she missed the cut after posting an 81.
Mao Saigo, a major winner in this year's Chevron Championship, bolstered Japanese numbers in the upper echelons with a 69, although she stumbled with a 76 on Friday.
And Miyu Yamashita leapfrogged the whole bunch during Friday's second round, following up on her 68 from the opening round with a 65 that put her at 11 under, three shots clear of the field at the midway point.
But it's been almost 50 years now since the celebrated Chako Higuchi blazed a trail when she won the 1977 LPGA Championship and became Japan's first major champion. She earned a ticker-tape parade down the boulevards of Tokyo.
When the 'Smiling Cinderella', Hinako Shibuno, won the Women's Open at Woburn in 2019, she was almost given the keys to the Golden Pavilion.
In between those pioneering conquests, the prolific Ayako Okamoto triumphed on these shores in 1984 when she romped to an 11-shot win in the Women's Open before it had been elevated to a major championship.
A Japanese success this week in Wales would no doubt generate another giddy frenzy in this golf-mad nation
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