Reigning Asian Games champion Yuka Saso fired a five-under 68 and trailed Taiwanese Pei-Ying Tsai by just three shots at the start of the Descente Ladies Tokai Classic in Aichi, Japan yesterday.
Winner of two of the first five legs of the Tour, Saso showed her long game once again, birdying all but one of the four par-5s.
She also birdied holes Nos. 2 and 14 to cushion the impact of her 9th hole bogey as she outdueled veteran Momoko Ueda in their face-off.
Ueda, 34, struggled with a 74 and in danger of missing the cut at joint 83rd.
Tsai tamed the Shinminami Aichi Country Club’s Mihama course’s narrow fairways and menacing water hazards and roughs for nines of 32-33.
But she could only seize a precarious lead as four turned in identical 66s, led by 16-time LPGA of Japan Tour champion Ai Suzuki, three fired 67s, and another six submitted similar 68s, including Saso.
Meanwhile, Golf5 Ladies winner Sakura Koiwai shot a bogey-less 69 for a share of 15th with nine others, including Serena Aoki, while Earth Mondahmin Cup champion Ayaka Watanabe and JLPGA Championship titlist Saki Nagamine both shot 70s for a share of 25th with 11 others.
Other six-under par scorers were Saiki Fujita, Ayaka Furue and Kokone Yoshimoto while Mami Fukuda blazed home with five birdies in the last seven holes to shoot a 67 for joint sixth with Naruha Miyata and Miki Sakai, who also birdied four of the last five to crash into the early mix.
